


Skin

by Vegetasblondehairdye



Category: My Hero Academia
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Brothers, Dabi is a Todoroki theory, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Personal struggle, War, identity chrisis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 50,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21713131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegetasblondehairdye/pseuds/Vegetasblondehairdye
Summary: (Dabi is a Todoroki theory) During a raid on the city by The League of Villains, Dabi comes face to face with Endeavor and Shouto Todoroki in hopes to bring the truth of his identity crashing down on their heads. There's nothing more he wants than to expose these so called hero's for what they truly are. Fakes who wear capes and pretend that they fight for justice.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	1. This Fire

A manic laugh left his lips as flames circled around the avenue. The sides of buildings were set aflame as debris tumbled to the ground, nearly crushing the civilians who tried to ran away in horror. 

The #1 hero, Endeavor, has been forced to his knees by this fiend with the patch-worked face. The amusement in the man's icy blue eyes said it all. He had Endeavor right where he wanted him. Even better with the fact that he had his golden child fighting along side him. 

"Shouto! Get out of here while you still can!" Endeavor shouted, blood dripping down the sides of his mouth. "Get these people to safet-!" A boot then collided swiftly with the side of his jaw, nearly sending him to the other side of the street. 

The burned villain smirked as he watched on as an injured Todoroki laid face down on the cement, in shock at how his father was getting his ass handed to him by a member of the league. It wasn't a fair fight considering the villain, that he later learned who went by Dabi, had brought 3 nomu's to destroyed along his side. 

Endeavor and Todoroki had held their own for a while, but the numbers game soon caught up to them. "The people?" Dabi laughed dryly, running his hand down his scaly face. "Do you really think I give a damn about the people? I don't give 2 shits about what happens to anybody around us!"

"Why have you been so fixated on us?" Todoroki struggled to push himself off the ground, but his muscles didn't allow him to push himself up anymore than a few inches. He fell back to the ground, still attempting to talk. "You already had us beat." he choked, "Why did you destroy those Nomu's when the League of Villains is clearly trying to take over the city? Why not let us die? What's your agenda?" 

"You talk too much for a boy on the brink of death." Dabi stalked over his way, kneeling down and scrunching up a chunk of Todoroki's hair, forcing the boy to look at him. "Look at you. A pro hero in training and you're already lower than the scum on the bottom of my shoe. Do you know why?" he pointed to a bloody Endeavor, "By following in the footsteps of this prick. Listen kid, all this pain and suffering isn't worth it. Hell, look at me! I stopped caring a long time ago and I'm fine!" Dabi shoved the boys head back where it was. 

"You don't look fine to me." he gritted. 

"Oh? These?" he pointed at his visible burns. "This is what happens when you try to please people who are pieces of shit." 

"Get away from him, you animal! Your fight is with me!" Endeavor stood on shaky knees, holding his broken ribs. Those Nomu's really did a number on him. "When I'm finished with you, you'll be sorry that you rid yourself of your only advantage of winning this fight!" 

"Oh? You're still alive. Surprisingly, I'm pleased that you hadn't bled out, Enji Todoroki." he held his palms upwards, igniting his signature blue flames. "Stand down, or..." he stood on Todoroki's hand, before mangling the boys wrist with a harsh twist of his boot. He yelped in pain, gripping Dabi's ankle with his free hand to attempt to pry him off. "I break his other wrist and make sure he's out of action for a very long time."

Endeavor stared daggers into Dabi's being, before capturing the site of his injured son. He couldn't risk having his creation be put on the shelf before his hero career even began. How embarrassing would that be? The #2 hero's greatest creation, taken out by some thug who can't fight on his own. "Tch! You're clearly not here for just a fight. So what do you want?" 

A twisted grin stretched across Dabi's face, making the staples on his lower jaw pull apart slightly. He finally lifted his foot off of Todoroki's wrist. He winced in pain. His eyes then grew wide, realizing that his injured hand was on his ice side. "No..." his voice shook, staring at his mangled arm. 

"I want you to kneel." he demanded. 

"I will never!" 

"Such pride." he looked over his shoulder, "I'm sure your golden boy would absolutely love having only one hand, forced to use his damn fire quirk for the rest of his life." 

"Leave him out of this, criminal."

"Do what I say and I won't break his entire hand off." 

All Endeavor could think about was how hard he tried to make the perfect hybrid child. All of that would go to shit if he didn't obey this parasites demands. How pathetic. He cursed under his breath. This brat better appreciate all that I'm doing in order to secure his future! 

Endeavor struggled back onto his knees. Dabi watched, looking pleased with the man's decision. He slowly approached him. The only thing hotter than the flames around, was the white hot fire in Endeavor's eyes. He mentally swore to himself that this villain will suffer a slow and painful punishment. Then make his death look like an accident. 

Dabi, then lunged forward. Meeting the hero with a stiff shot to the gut. He hunched over in pain, nearly vomiting from the punch. "How does it feel? Getting knocked off of your pedestal and bowing down to someone like me. Tell me what's going through your mind, Enji." he turned around and spotted Todoroki who had barely made it back to his feet, while cradling his injured hand. "How about you... little Shouto Todoroki? Doesn't seeing your father like this just make your skin crawl?" he lifted Endeavor's chin up with the point of his shoe, "Look at him. He's weak." 

Todoroki gazed at the scene, but all he saw was him as a 5 year old. In a pool of his own vomit and blood with his father standing over him with a wretched scowl. He mentally slapped himself for even thinking that his father was finally getting what was coming to him. 

"You talk about us.... Like you know us..." Todoroki growled through clenched teeth. "I'll make you pay for all the destruction you've caused." he threatened. 

"Like I know you?" Dabi let Endeavor's head drop after he removed his foot from underneath his chin. "For being a high profile student of UA, you sure do have a frail memory." he shoved his hands deep into his pockets like he always did. Now that he had them both wrapped around his finger, he became more comfortable with the direction things were going. "Not to be cliche, but you and I are more alike than you think."

"I'm nothing like you." 

Dabi mockingly placed his hand over his eye, "Nice scar." 

Todoroki touched his burn patch, "Our appearance doesn't mean a damn thing. I will defeat you, even if I only have to use my left side." 

"Stand down. We both know that using your fire to save your Old Man isn't what you really want. Knowing that it's what he wants you to do." 

"Stop trying to get into the boys head. It won't work! He's too smart for that!" 

Dabi cocked his head, turning his attention to the man on his knees. He gripped him from the throat, "Shut up! You don't get to talk unless I ask you to!" he snapped. "What makes this boy so special? All I see is a brat who thinks he can't be touched." he tackled Todoroki to the ground. "What makes you so special?" he punched him. "Why are you the one seen with the most potential?" Dabi continued his assault. "You're nothing but a spoiled parasite that got everything handed to you!" 

"What do you want from us, Dabi?" Todoroki coughed, blood dripping from both corners of his mouth. 

He narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I want you all to come face to face with the truth." he pulled him up harshly from the ground. "I'm sick of being an after thought. A ghost in people's minds. Yet the only memory of me they may still hold onto is a frail, weak version of my former self." His hand gripped tighter around Endeavor's throat as he turned his attention back to him. "What do you see when you look at me?" 

"I see a failure who will perish in a prison cell." 

Dabi clenched his fist, striking him in the face. "Try again! I know you only have one good eye, but try to focus! Look at me! Look past the scars! Look past the hatred in my eyes! Tell me what you see, Enji!"

Endeavor stared deep into Dabi's teal eyes. Doing exactly what he said. Paying the hatred and burns no mind. He focused on the young man's face as best as he could. He imagined the purple burns being erased from his body. But when he looked deeper into his eyes, he didn't see hatred. What he saw was sorrow. Pain. 

He continued to alter the villains image in his mind. Even seeing him with red hair for some strange reason. That's when reality hit the hero like a brutal Texas Smash. 

"T...Touya?"


	2. Ghost of the Past

"T-Touya.... How...."

A gasp was caught in Todoroki's throat. Did he just say? No, that's impossible. All this time his eldest brother was someone who he could barely remember the face of. Now, he was standing right in front of him after all these years of not knowing if he was alive or not.

"Surprised? I figured you would be, father." he emphasized that last word with malice in his voice.

"No. This can't be! Touya was quirkless! You can't be him!" Endeavor argued. "He was weak. Probably died out on the streets for not being able to defend himself."

"Funny you say that." Dabi interlaced his fingers behind his neck. "Remember the day I ran away? Probably not, hell I barely do. Either way, while I was hopeless and alone all those nights, something I never imagined happened." he impatiently paced back and forth. "After all the turmoil you created. Living through the belittling, and being forced to hear the constant cries of pain and sadness from my mother, my brother's and sister who I couldn't protect even if I wanted to-!" he stopped dead in his tracks. Faced away so nobody could see through his mask of anger that he wore over the true sight of sadness. "I still wanted to be able to come back home stronger and make you proud... It was supposed to be my job to protect... And I couldn't even do that right... I always fantasized about leaving and being free from you, but when that day finally happened, I came to the realization how that's not what I wanted at all... All I wanted was for you to give a damn. I tortured myself with sticking around and had to live on as you tried to replace me with someone stronger and better." he jerked around, making Endeavor and Todoroki flinch. "That killed me inside! But you didn't care! Nobody did!" The red veins in his eyes pulsed.

"What did you do to yourself, Touya?"

"I thought about making you proud so much that it drove me to the brink of insanity." His words were bleak. Cutting through the feelings that Dabi created a wall around. "When I was growing up, I always felt cold. Like my body was freezing from the inside out." he clutched tightly at his aching chest, "I never knew why, but it made me feel so weak."

Endeavor growled, "Your sickness wasn't my fault. So don't you dare try to blame me for your failures. Typical of a villain to blame others rather than themselves."

Dabi wagged his finger, "Missing the point. You see, I later discovered why I always felt that way. I was never quirkless. I just had a power that nobody could understand. My interior was ice cold because of mom's genes, allowing me to use my fire to a maximum without overheating." Todoroki and Endeavor's eyes grew out of shock. It explained so much. Why Touya was always cold to the touch, and how nothing would be able to warm him. The child never learned how to control his power due to the lack of attention from his father who couldn't see what was really going on with his child. "Only problem was, I didn't know that at the time. I wanted to be strong, so I tried so hard to call upon your power. I tried to use Hellflame only for it to nearly char the skin from my entire body." His arms and legs tensed, recalling back to that dark alleyway where his horrific incident took place all those years ago. "Now I know I can only control it from my hands while balancing the coldness of my body." he pointed to the staples in his face. "You see these? My skin began to fall from the muscle, so I stapled it back into place. I do that to remind myself that even though I look like this, that I'm not a complete monster."

"This isn't who you are." Todoroki finally spoke up. "This isn't you. You don't have to be like this anymore. I'm sorry for not remembering you. I can't change how you're feeling. But we can move past this!" he reached for his brother's arm, catching him by the wrist. "I know it's easy to forget everything that's happened in the past when all you focus on is the bad. Believe me, Touya. I know. Before someone very important to me opened up my eyes, all I saw was mom crying. All I remembered was how she hurt me. During all that, I lost sight of why I was striving to be a hero. I didn't want to be like him! I wanted to be what I thought a hero should be! I know you hate him. I did too for a very long time. I probably won't ever forgive his actions, but listen to me. This isn't how you want things to end! Do you think killing us is going to make things better?!"

Dabi looked down, contemplating his next action. He didn't want to admit it out loud but his little brothers words moved him. Creaked open his eyes just a bit. "Get outta here Shouto." he spoke softly. "Run far away from here. I came to the conclusion that this no longer has anything to do with you." Todoroki's hand slowly dropped. "More blood will be spilt before the night's over. And if you don't want it to be yours, I suggest you leave."

The boys hands shook. His brother had the word death looming in his eyesight like a target. Somebody was going to be sent to the grave. He knew this yet his feet couldn't move. Something was telling him to stop this, but how? His arm was broken and he was pretty sure one of his ankles was fractured during his fight with the nomu's. What more could he possibly do?

"Listen to him, boy." Endeavor spoke from the ground he was still forced to kneel on. "If he wants a fight to the death. I'll give it to him." he struggled back to his feet once more. Dabi wasn't fazed due to his father being severely weakened, and he knows if Shouto were smart that he wouldn't interfere again. "You can't be the #1 hero if you're dead. So leave this to me."

Todoroki was disgusted how this was all his father was concerned about. He could care less about saving his eldest son if it meant his chosen child would be crowned as #1 in the future.

"You don't have to fight! Please!" he begged. Todoroki was sick of all this violence. All this hatred. Sure the feelings were justified, but if it meant a fight till the death, then it wasn't worth it. Yeah he hates his father but he's never wished death upon him. That wasn't in his nature. Dabi... Touya was no different, after learning his true identity and why he was made this way.

"You're working on my last nerve, kid. Don't make me change my mind." Dabi opened up his hands, igniting his signature blue flames.

"I won't let you kill each other!"

"Stay the hell back!" Endeavor roared, charging at Dabi, giving Shouto little time to jump out of the way before smashing Dabi into a tattered building. "Look at you! You think because you've changed a little that you're any different from what you used to be?!" he held the thin man in the air, on the side opposite from his broken ribs, then launched him into the ground. "Now it's your turn to kneel." his teeth gritted.

Dabi managed to get his hands free from Endeavor's large frame that was crushing him, then flamed the side of his face. Momentarily blinding him. He kicked his father off, getting a few more jabs in before Endeavor could leap out of harms way.

Once he got his footing under control he took a quick moment to catch his breath."What's the matter, father?" Dabi panted, "Tired already? Maybe it's time that you hang up the boots and retire too."

"Not before I rid the streets of the garbage that is you and the league!"

Dabi chuckled dryly, "That's what you don't get, Old Man. I'm no longer that scared kid that you used to bully and intimidate." he pulled both his arms together, gathering flames from both hands and firing them all at once to stun his father where he stood. He ran, roundhouse kicking him, sending his father flying into a guardrail. Dabi grabbed him by the collar of his torn hero suit, as he said: "Touya Todoroki is dead." his fist engulfed in blue flames, "And soon. You will be too."

"Stop!" a wall off ice cut between the father and son. Standing there, with a broken, purplish hand held out was Todoroki. "This isn't how we should solve this! Don't you see? We can fix this!"

Dabi scrunched a chunk of his little brother's hair in his hand, "I'm only going to say this one more time. Leave, before I do something to you that I'll regret."

"T-touya... Please..." a tear slipped down his cheek.

"You're scared of me, aren't you? Little Shouto."

"A real hero sticks around and tries to save others even if he's scared."  
Dabi scoffed, "You're trying to save him?" He raised his other hand that was covered in flames, "Pathetic."

"I'm trying to save you..." Dabi's eyes grew in shock, the flames in his hand disappearing. Save me? Why... "He was wrong about you. You proved that you're strong. Shouldn't that be enough?"

Dabi curled his lip in disdain, throwing his brother to the side. "No... I want to hear him say it. He tried to create a masterpiece. But what he ended up with was a failure. Little did anyone know, that this failure, manifested into the very thing that is chaos itself."

"Brother stop!" he understood why Dabi was so angry. No, he wasn't okaying his brutal actions from now and the past. But he had nobody to guide him. He turned to villainy because there was nobody that believed in him and he wanted to finally feel strong. He felt important now. This was his chance to rid the world of so called hero's that only cared about their image and paychecks. More importantly, he wanted to get revenge on the man who hurt him. Todoroki sympathized for his brother, not wanting him to remain on this path for the rest of his life. He needed Touya to find peace.

"Stay back, Shouto!" Dabi punched through the wall of ice. He held Endeavor's bloody face between his burning hands, "All I wanted was for you to be proud! Well look at me now, father! Aren't I the strong son you've always wanted?! I'm standing over you, the #1 hero and I have your replacement shivering in his boots! So what if I use fear as a tactic! I learned it from you! Doesn't that prove how wrong you were about me being weak and pathetic?! Now tell me! Tell me how proud you are!" he screamed with the sound of heartache spilling from his voice as it cracked between words.

He's right. How could I have done this? Endeavor thought. I turned my own flesh and blood into someone driven by wrath. All because I pushed him so hard. I disregarded how everyone around me was feeling because I was so stuck on raising my children, my creations to be stronger than All Might. It's because I saw them as nothing more than weapons rather than children who didn't share the same goals as me. Touya turned into this hurting, vengeful soul because I didn't care about him...

Endeavor's eyes fluttered open slowly. "I am proud." he coughed, "Proud that you, my son... Proved me wrong. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did, T-Touya... I'm sorry..."

Dabi's eyes began to burn. A burn that he hasn't felt in a long time. An almost aching sensation coming from... His eyes? What the hell is wrong with me? All my life I wanted to hear these words and he finally says them. But I don't feel the way I wanted to. I don't feel proud. I'm... Angry! "No...." he gritted his teeth, "You feel guilty. After all these years of torment and abuse you finally feel guilty! Well guess what, Enji! It's too late for apologies! You're only saying this because you're scared! You don't mean a damn word! Now perish along with the rest of this pathetic society!"

Todoroki watched as his brother was seconds away from murdering his father. Suddenly everything went silent. The crackling cage of fire. The distant screams of terror. The propellers from the news helicopters above. None of that mattered. His mind blocked it all out.

Instinctively, Todoroki flashed a wall of crystal ice, as it spiked out sharp like the emotions penetrating his chest. He didn't mean to lose control the way he did. His broken hand wasn't able to shoot out the proper way that Shouto wanted it to. The ice walls were way too jagged than he intended them to be.

Dabi saw the rugged ice speeding in his direction. Once again, out of pure instinct to protect himself from an attack, he blasted his fire to hopefully melt the on coming ice as it rushed his way.

Through his blury vision, Endeavor saw how dangerous Shouto's ice looked. He grabbed ahold of Dabi's wrist, attempting to pull him out of the way. But the sudden surprise caused the villain to tense up and put more fire power behind his attack. The fire swirled into a beam like figure that would in fact cause fatal injuries if it came in contact with its target.

Before Endeavor had time to react to stop his son's from severely hurting each other, the beam of fire went straight through Todoroki's stomach while an erratic icicle impaled Dabi's chest.

Time felt like it had stopped for the #1 hero. He wasn't fast enough. Wasn't strong enough to even put a halt to the chaos that he helped create.

"N..No..." his voice shook. Endeavor grabbed both of his bleeding sons into his large frame. Cradling them close to his injured body. "Sh-Shouto.... Touya! You stay alive, dammit! Don't you die on me!"

"Th-this i-is your fffault..." Dabi coughed up blood. His eyes fading out to gray as more blood spilled from his chest. "Get your... Hands off of... Me... I hate you, Enji... I h-hate y-you... "

"I know, son... I know... You have every right to. But you're gonna be okay. You and your brother. You'll both be okay..." Endeavor looked over to his youngest child who's eyes were half lidded, he gently rocked him in his arms to make sure he stayed awake. "I can't lose you both. I can't! There's so much I need to make up to you all."

Dabi brought a bloody hand up to the icicle, pulling it from his chest. Blood squirted on the faces of his father and brother, as well as his own. The man wanted to die. He had nothing else to live for. Dabi wanted Endeavor to suffer as much as he did growing up. And he was. He was finally feeling what it was like to be helpless, alone and afraid. Sadly it came at his baby brothers expense. That's not what he planned on doing anymore. He had forgiven Shouto mid battle. Now the hatred in Dabi's body was replaced by pain and guilt.

"Touya no! Why would you-!" he cried, watching more of his son's blood spill around him.

"I could survive death but I don't need this life. All I want now is to never... Be forgotten again."  
\----


	3. Choices

_Last night the world learned the shocking, true identity of The League of Villains own, Dabi. We learned that he is in fact, The #1 hero, Endeavors, eldest son._

_Endeavor, his youngest son, Shouto Todoroki, and who we now know as Touya Todoroki were seen via helicopter battling in the down town area. The vendetta that the villain had against the two hero's is still unknown. But we speculate that it must have to do with their family history._

_The trio was surrounded by walls of flames, not allowing anybody to get in or out of the battle scene._

_Our cameras caught a devastating visual of the brothers bleeding out in their father's arms, after what seemed to be a fatal attack that they inflicted on each other. More information will be broadcasted once we-_

Bakugou shut off the TV in the hospitals waiting room that seemed to be playing the exact same broadcast on a constant loop. That or nearly every news station was reporting on the same damn story. "Can't believe Icy-Hot is brothers with that bastard from the League of Idiots."

"Hey, could you at least sound a bit more worried, Kacchan?" Deku looked down at his red sneakers. "We almost lost our friend. He's lucky to even be alive."

"Midoryia's right, Bakugou. It was a miracle that someone came in the nick of time before Todoroki and Da- I mean Touya both bled out." Momo spoke softly. A tear fell from her eye when she thought of Todoroki's pain and suffering that he must have been going through.

"Thank goodness for that doctor who had a quirk to manipulate and copy cells. If the holes in their chests and stomachs wouldn't have been closed then..." Iida stopped himself from finishing his sentence. All that mattered was how there were 0 fatalities last night. That for starters, was a huge win.

"Ohhh...." Uraraka paced back and forth nervously. "When can we see him?"

"Relax guys. The doctors said Todoroki will be okay. He's a tough guy! We all know that he could pull himself through this." Kirishima spoke confidently.

Denki shrugged, "I don't know how I'd feel after finding out that my older brother wanted both me and my father dead. That would kill me inside knowing that my own flesh and blood hated me that much." Jirou's eyes bugged out then she smacked him over the head. "Ow! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! My bad!"

Bakugou growled, "I don't get why I still have to stay here if we were told that he's fine."

"He hasn't woken up yet, man." Sero rubbed the back of his neck. Still obviously worried about his classmate. "We need to be here for him."

"Yeah." Asui agreed, "After all the emotional trauma he's endured in the last 24 hours, he has to know that as his friends, that we will always be close by if he ever needs anything."

Mina sat quietly, chewing nervously on her nails that were worn down to the nub. "What about Touya? What's going to happen to him? I doubt the police will forgive and forget the crimes he's committed just because he's Endeavor's son."

"I don't know." Deku sighed. "I haven't heard anything about him or the condition he's in. Is it bad that I'm worried about him? I mean, he helped kidnap Kacchan. And is the suspect of a lot of suspicious murders. But... He's still Todoroki's brother. That has to count for something, right?"

"Tch!" Bakugou looked away, plopping his chin onto his palm. "Who even knows. Not like any of that footage caught much sound until after Endeavor was screaming on the top of his lungs."

Jirou stared down at her phone, re watching the footage. "It looks like things were more complicated between them than we think. I mean, at some points it looks like Todoroki is trying to protect Touya."

"Well, we won't know unless Todoroki or Endeavor want to tell anyone." said Deku.

"Excuse me." a woman in a white lab coat walked over to the group of teens. "I've been informed that you all are friends of Shouto Todoroki. His father has now allowed visitors since Shouto is awake."

Nearly everyone in class 1A jumped out of their chairs, anxious to see their friend.

"I do ask you to be very quiet. He's still not emotionally healed."

They all nodded in agreement.

Before entering the room Momo turned around to create a bundle of balloons with her quirk. Something to hopefully uplift Shouto just a little.

"Hey... How's our favorite hero?" Kirishima led the pack into the room.

Todoroki turned his head weakly, "How long have you all been here?"

"Since we heard about what happened."

Sato set down a dome shaped container on the table on the side of Shouto's bed. "I uhhhh, I baked you a cake." he rubbed the back of his neck, "To help you feel a little better."

Kota stepped forward quietly and placed a clear jar onto Todoroki's lap that had two butterflies in it. One red with black stripes. The other, blue with white stripes.

Momo tied the balloon strings on one of the chairs in the corner of the room. "And some balloons. To brighten up the room."

Todoroki stared at all his worried friends who stayed hopeful during this difficult time. He wasn't the best at sharing his feelings but he truly appreciated everything his classmates were doing for him. "Thank you. Thank you all."

Bakugou shoved his hands into his pocket, "I mean, I was forced to stay here after the doctors said you'd be okay. So...."

"Since when do you take orders from anybody?"

Bakugou jerked his head around to face him, "I-uh- Grrrr! Shut it Icy-Hot, you should be grateful that I stayed for your ass!" his previous attempt at sounding uncaring completely collapsed on its own.

Todoroki smiled subtly. The corners of his uplifted lips suddenly fell down into a flat line. "My brother. Have any of you heard anything? If he's okay?"

Deku stepped forward, "On our way over here I saw your dad talking to a nurse. She told him that your brother is 2 floors above us. But that's all I could hear."

Todoroki struggled to throw his casted leg over the edge of the bed. With a grunt he tried wobbling to his feet.

"Whoa, hey!" Kirishima put his hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him at a seated position. "You need to lie down and get some rest. Your injuries aren't fully healed."

"I need to see him." Todoroki argued, still trying to get up.

"I know you're not that much of a moron, Icy-Hot. I doubt anybody at this hospital is going to let you anywhere near the guy who tried killing you."

"Watch your mouth, Bakugou! You don't know the whole story!" he shouted. "You don't have a single damn clue!"

"Then why don't you enlighten us, half- and-half!"

"Because it's none of your damn business!"

"Hey guys," Asui raised her large hand, "Where's Midoryia?"

_________________

Deku found himself using the elevator to get to the 12th floor of the hospital. He knew Todoroki was anxious to find out how his brother was doing, so like the good friend that he is. Izuku took it upon himself to find out for him.

He turned a corner and ran into a bulky figure. His large green eyes met with beady teal ones. "Endeavor..."

"Why are you on this floor? I rented it out so nobody besides the doctors could be here."

"It's Todoroki. He just wanted to know how Dabi was doing." he looked down, "He can't get out of bed so I thought-"

"His names Touya." Endeavor cut him off with a gruff in his voice. "And tell Shouto that he'll be okay. The wound in his chest is going to need several more procedures in order for it to be fully healed. Other than that, he'll make a full recovery."

"Maybe he'd like to hear that more coming from you."

He shook his head. "Midoryia, anybody with half a brain can tell how Shouto feels about me. And rightfully so. I wasn't the father I should have been and..." he swallowed the lump in his throat that was making his voice shake and crack. "It's my fault that this all happened. My son's, they want nothing to do with me. My eldest, he would rather die alone if it meant my face not being the last image he'd ever see." Endeavor looked down at his son's friend, "You've built a strong relationship with Shouto. Believe me when I say that he'd rather hear the news coming from you. Not me."

"What about Touya? What's going to happen to him once he's healed?"

Endeavor sighed, "I don't know." He shoved his hands into his pockets, and proceeded to the elevator. "Are you coming?"

"Uhhhh yeah. I um, I just need to use the bathroom real quick. I'll be down before any nurses get mad at me for being up here." Endeavor shrugged and left Midoryia to his business.

Okay, he lied. He didn't need to use the bathroom. He just wanted to see if Touya was awake or not. And see what condition he was in. If Todoroki asked for details, he wanted to be able to provide as many as he could.

He made his way to the last door in the hall. The door was cracked open slightly and all he heard was soft voices. He peaked in and saw a nurse hovering over Touya.

"Can you walk?" The nurse asked.

"I'm heavily sedated..." Touya's words dragged lazily. "They want me weak... So I can't fight... Or escape..."

"That hole in your chest is enough to keep you from doing that."

_Rude_. Midoryia thought. _What kind of nurse would tell that to a patient? Villain or not._

Touya chuckled a bit before coughing, "You really know how to make someone feel better, crazy."

_Wait. Do they know each other??_ Midoryia leaned in closer to hear better.

"Shigaraki is also really mad that you didn't tell the rest of us your secret. He thought it would have been a great idea for us to use it to blackmail your dad with."

_Shigaraki? Blackmail?? Us???_

"Of course, Handy-Man always looking for how things could benefit him." Touya used his elbows to weakly prop himself up. The nurse reached around him and propped his pillow up, after fluffing it a few times so he could lean his back against it. "Guessing he wants me dead now?"

The young woman shook her head, "He wants to hide you. You're still one of the strongest people in The League. He said it doesn't matter if you're the son of the #1 Hero. You're still one of us. We need you, Dabi." she wiped a tear that ran down her cheek, "You trusted me enough to tell me your secret after I told you about my past. Ever since that day, I saw you more than just a comrade. You're like the older brother that I wish I still had. We can't lose you. I can't lose you."

He reached a weak arm out to hold the woman's hand to comfort her. "Endeavor. He said that he wants to put me into hiding. Hire a couple of goons to make it look like I was kidnapped so I don't serve jail time once I'm healed."

"What about The League?"

"I can't escape with you, right now. Not when I'm like this, Toga." he explained.

Midoryia gasped, "T-Toga?" he muttered horrifiedly to himself. Perhaps a little too loud. A yelp escaped his lips when Toga and Dabi looked in his direction. The last memory he had of Himiko Toga was her saying how much she wanted to make him bleed. If that wasn't terrifying enough, she had a giant crush/obsession with him!

"Get in here, Freckles." Touya demanded. Deku slowly opened the door and hesitantly walked forward. Toga's Cheshire like smile was enough to give away how excited she was to see him. "Why are you up here?"

"I... Uhh- just wanted to see how you were doing." he leaned away from Toga who was so close that she was literally breathing down his neck. "If you were awake."

"Shouto. How is he? Alive?"

"Yeah. He's fine. Worried about you." Deku walked a little closer, "He can't move much so I thought I could see you for myself. You know, calm his nerves after I tell him that you're awake."

"Anything else you want to tell him?" he asked, referring to his conversation he was having with Toga.

"It's not my place to say that."

"Smart answer."

"What are you going to do, though?"

Touya looked at Deku then at Toga. There were two paths. The first one meant going back to the psycho's that took him in. Or the second, patching things up with the family that he ran away from in the first place. In a way, The League was his family. A bunch of outcasts that were looked down upon and seen as evil and vile for having different views from the majority of their crooked society. They accepted each other's flaws, differences, and didn't poke fun at each other for having a quirk that wasn't the easiest to control or obtain. When Touya thought back to it, all he could remember was Endeavor damning his children for not fitting his vision of the perfect hybrid child.

His fists clenched. Things weren't all bad on that side though. His brother and sister were always supportive of him. Same with his mother that he missed more and more every time he thought of her. His fingers relaxed onto to the bed sheets as he calmed himself.

"I don't know." he racked his hands down his patch worked face. "I know the League will welcome me back with open arms." Toga gave him a hopeful half smile. "My family on the other hand... May not even want anything to do with me."

"You don't know that." Deku didn't know this guy well but he knew he meant a lot to Todoroki. So he obviously wanted what was best for him as well. That being said, he knew his boundaries. "It's your decision. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. Do what's best for you, Touya."

Dabi's gasp went unnoticeable. It was so strange having someone other than his family directly refer to him as his given name. It felt like he was two different people. A merciless villain. And a scared young man.

"Freckles." Deku turned around, "Tell Shouto... That I'm sorry." he nodded before exiting the room. "You should go, Toga."

"What should I tell Shigaraki?"

"I'm out."

"What?!" she almost shouted, still keeping in mind that she is undercover. She couldn't risk being caught and didn't know how much longer this get up would last.

"This is my decision. Not my father's. Please, don't try to change my mind."

"But Dabi... We were supposed to change the world!" her usually loud voice came down to a shrill whisper, "Don't you still want that?"

"Open your eyes. The world is changing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it. This. What happened got people talking. Look at your phone. Turn on the news. They're questioning the hero's."

Toga pulled out her phone and began to open up several of her social media apps. "Holy... They're saying things like 'how can we trust hero's if even their kids could be delinquents?', one tweet says 'bet Endeavor beat his kid so bad he turned to villainy' and all these people are actually liking and re tweeting it. Making theories about the whole Todoroki family. Ooo check out this trending hashtag," She turned the screen for Dabi to see.

"#Justice4Touya"


	4. Ice, Fire, and Pain

The past few days felt like a strange acid trip. Like the world had split in half and flipped upside down. Nothing was making sense. Society wasn't sure if their opinions were the right ones. If their thoughts fell into the moral code that was built for them.

After the identity of Dabi was released, people had to pick a side. Arrest the villain or try to save him due to speculations and theories of abuse that were made by the public.

Endeavor looked out the window of the hospital building. Down below were protests. People arguing that this fiend of a man shouldn't get special treatment because of his newly known last name. And others saying to hear out his side. They didn't want to believe that the #1 hero was a bad man behind closed doors, but if that was the case. Then his son shouldn't be held completely responsible for the actions that were influenced by years of torment.

The #1 hero sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he walked back to his sons recovery room after his third operation. Touya had been resting for a few hours and Endeavor figured he'd be awake by now.

When he walked into the room he saw his son staring out the window as well. Societies faith and morals were crumbling.

"If they're too loud for you, I can get the police to escort them off the property." he said, placing a glass of water on a table beside the hospital bed.

"It doesn't bug me. I'm used to being around constant screaming." he sat down on the soft chair that was pressed up against the wall. A soft grunt escaping his lips as the pressure in his chest enhanced.

"You shouldn't be moving around. You need to rest."

"Since when did you become so caring, Enji?"

"I already told you that I was-"

"Save it. I don't need your apologies." he rested his chin onto his palm, looking away from his father. "Just go."

Endeavor looked down. He never imagined that all his douche bagery would come back around to bite him in the ass. He fucked up big time. No matter how much money he could throw at people to buy their silence, this wasn't going away. He had to face this head on.

"What do you want me to do, Touya?"

"Drop dead."

"I know that you're like this because of me but don't try and make it seem as if I forced your hand to kill so many innocent people!"

Touya's teal eyes glared at his father. He struggled to press himself up as he weakly stomped towards his father. "You're so blind! This is bigger than me!" he pointed towards the window that was above the arguing people below. "This is bigger than you! Society is in shambles because they don't know who to trust! They don't know the difference between good and bad anymore! Life isn't as black and white as you so called hero's try to make it seem! Now... They're all lost. Rightfully so."

Endeavor's eyes widened, "This was your plan? Not to only tarnish my reputation but to still carry out the hero killers ideology?"

"It's called killing 2 birds with 1 stone."

"Well you got what you wanted. I hope you're pleased with yourself." Endeavor turned on his heels to leave the room.

"Let me ask you something, Enji." he stopped, holding his hand still on the door knob. "Do you think I really wanted to turn out like this? That I'm proud of what I've become?" Endeavor didn't move a muscle. "You probably forgot about how much I talked about wanting to be a hero. To be strong and fearless like you. But all you did was ignore me. No. You replaced me."

Touya didn't have the strength to be angry right now. He just needed to get the rest of his feelings out there to lift the weight off of his chest.

He chuckled weakly, "The thought of me wanting to be a hero like you makes me want to vomit now. But that's what I wanted when I was younger." The reason why Endeavor couldn't turn around was because he couldn't look his son in the eyes without wanting to crumble under the pressure of guilt and regret. "People take one look at me and think I'm nothing more than a psychotic monster. They see my scars and are immediately scared of me. And you know what? Until the other day, nobody ever even thought about questioning why I look like this. Or why I do the things I do. I've never been asked about what was the root of my hatred towards hero's and society. Everyone just assumes I was born this way." Touya looked out towards the window once more. "But you know the truth."

A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Endeavors face. He may have sounded calm, but in his own way. Touya was screaming for help. With a deep sigh, Endeavor twisted the doorknob and exited the room without speaking another word.

In the parking lot and across the street of the hospital were several news stations salivating at the mouth to get a juicy story. The only problem was that no doctors, police or Endeavor were coming out the building to bring any answers to the news outlets. But when you're that eager for a news story you will wait and wait until you get answers.

"We are here outside at the Musutafu Hospital where citizens have gathered, protesting on the fate of Touya Todoroki and demanding to know the truth behind what seems to be an internal family conflict."

"Excuse me, sir." a reporter found a random protester, shoving the mic in the young man's face. "May I ask you how you feel about the #1 hero's son being a member of the infamous League of Villains?"

"Blood or not. He should be held accountable for his crimes. What kind of society would this be if we suddenly let criminals get a free pass because of who they're related to? If you ask me, Endeavor should be stripped of the #1 Hero title. He's the father of a murderer for crying out loud!"

A woman shoved her way to come face to face with the man getting interviewed. "Don't you dare put the blame on Endeavor! Since when was it okay to damn people because of who they're related to? It's not his fault that his son turned out the way he did."

"Do you know the whole story?!" the camera panned over to a teen girl holding a sign that read #JusticeForTouya "Have you seen the same videos as I have of the encounter. Endeavor showed no remorse and tried killing his son. He hit him like he's done it before. You can tell that man is a victim of abuse! You know as well as I do that Endeavor isn't the nicest "hero" this society has to offer. You've seen how he treats his fans. I could only imagine how awful of a father he is behind closed doors. That man only cares about himself and his position. And the fat paycheck that goes into his pocket."

A man scoffed, "You villain apologists will say anything to try and rebel against society. There's nothing wrong with the way we live! There's good and evil everywhere and the good always prevails in the end. Not everyone has a sob story. Some people are just down right evil like Stain and they deserve to be taken down!"

"Nobody does these things for no reason! I know what someone struggling with these issues looks like because I've been through it! I know what it's like to feel unwanted because hero work seems more important than raising a child! I didn't go out committing crimes because I had others who cared for me and helped me through my pain. But not everyone is that fortunate. Until we know everything, I will continue to show my support for Touya Todoroki because in my heart I believe he isn't truly evil!"

"As you can see, citizens are beginning to get heated by the situation. Everyone believes they know what should happen to Touya Todoroki and if Endeavor should be held accountable for having a rouge child. But who knows the whole story? Not the citizens. Not us. We as a society deserve answers."

Touya stared blankly at the TV. Some people understood his pain because they've lived it. Maybe not as excruciating as his life but still. Pain is pain. He wasn't the type of person to go out a give a speech. Or tell some sob story. To be honest, he didn't care what anybody else thought about him.

He wanted his father to know that he was the cause if his madness. Yes, Touya knew that the decisions he made along the line were his own and nobody else's but there's always a reason behind someone going down a dark path in life. The abuse was his reason. It was no excuse but in his aching heart, he felt that everything he did up to this point served a purpose. Right? He questioned to himself.

Was the turmoil of his childhood a legitimate reason to hurt and kill innocent people without feeling anything after? Just because he wanted his father to feel the pain he felt. For society to feel lost like how he did for many years.

Touya shook the thoughts out of his head and started searching for the remote to switch off the station. "Dammit. I know I set it down somewhere."

"Look!" a voice coming from the TV shouted. "It's Endeavor!"

Touya jerked his head around towards the screen. There his father was, walking briskly towards the sea of people with their signs and cameras.

News casters pushed their way to the front of the crowd, shoving their mics in Endeavor's face, shouting questions all at once that were being drowned out by the loud chatter of everyone else.

He breathed in deeply and sighed. The crowd simmered down, realizing that he wasn't going to talk until everyone was quiet.

Touya leaned in closer towards the TV. He was anxious to find out what his monster of a father was planning on saying.

He cleared his throat before he began. "There's been a lot of talk these past few days. Questions about me and my son Touya. About my whole family really." Endeavor swallowed the lump in his throat. There was no going back now. "As the new symbol of peace, it is my duty to make sure that everyone is as safe and secure as possible. A hero should protect and provide hope for others." his fists clenched tightly. "And I haven't done that."

Murmurs filled the area.

"I'm not a protector like All Might. I'll never be able to fill his shoes. It's damn near impossible. He's a genuinely caring human being who will lay his life on the line. Quirk or none. While I'm... I'm-" he stuttered, trying to find the right words to express what was going on in his head.

A reporter gained enough courage to ask, "What are you trying to say, Endeavor?"

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm not the person you all see me as. A real hero should be somebody who protects and encourages people to live up to their full potential no matter the case. Not... Shun and hurt their family for not living up to theirs..."

"Endeavor, are you admitting to harming your family?" a mic was held up towards him once again for the world to hear.

He looked down. Clenching his jaw tightly as if his body was trying to instinctively force him into not coming clean. "Touya didn't join the League of Villains for the sole purpose of following through with the Hero Killers ideology. He walked down this path because I set him on it. I take full responsibility for everything he's done. If I would have never neglected and abused him as a child. Forcing him to run away when he was a teenager then we wouldn't be standing here right now. Villains don't appear out of thin air. They're created. And I'm the one who's responsible for Dabi."

Endeavor then turned slowly on his heels and walked back inside. Leaving society with even more questions, but no one with the courage to ask them out loud.

Is the #1 hero no more?


	5. Change in the House of Flames

Endeavor walked the hallways feeling weightless. All these years he kept his private life, well... private. In the dark. Locked away. The same way a villain could smile and laugh, show kindness when they want to, a hero could also be a not so pleasant person in reality. Hero's are put up on a pedestal. Someone for people to praise and admire. Pray to when they feel scared and need protection, hoping they'd come out of the shadows to save the day. A real hero has to want to help people out of the goodness of their heart. Not just because it's their job.

For years and years, Endeavor played this part. The part of a hero. You could only keep an act up for so long until the truth eventually comes out.

Endeavor walked back into his sons hospital room, not knowing what to expect. He took one look at Touya, noticing his shiny teal eyes as the sun grazed the side of his face. The light reflecting off of his black hair made the strands of red more visible. He remembered how much Touya took after his features. Red hair, blue eyes, even his passion to be strong matched his own. How could he ever lay a hand on him? It was a shame that he just barely started to regret all he's done.

"Why?" Touya's face flinched. "Why did you-"

"I'm trying to make things right, Touya." He explained, "I know it's too late but I want you to see that I'm changing."

Touya crossed his arms over his chest, "Hope you don't expect me to just drop all the vendettas I have against you and just move on. You ruined me, Enji. I will always hate you and no matter what you say or do will ever change that."

He looked down, "I know that. I know you don't care about my apologies but I am truly sorry. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have turned out like this. Natsuo wouldn't have felt the need to move far away. Your sister wouldn't be stressing herself about trying to fix this broken family. And Shouto... he wouldn't have rejected his power and have a constant battle with himself if it wasn't for me. I would be so ashamed if your mother ever saw how things got worse after I sent her away."

Touya's eyes began to burn slightly. The thought of his mother seeing him like this scared him to death. What would she say? What would she do? How would she feel knowing that the son she tried to protect turned into a murderer.

He looked at his scarred arms and felt his rough face. "Sometimes we just have to accept that it's too late for change. We're both too far gone and won't be forgiven." Leering over at Endeavor's hulkish body, then back down at his burnt one, "We just have to embrace the fact that we aren't good people. There is no true redemption because our sins will always be apart of us."

"You're not evil, Touya."

He raised his eyes as blood dripped from his stitches, "Evil, lost, corrupt, whatever you wanna call it... I'm not the same person as I was 10 years ago. I don't regret anything I've ever done because all I cared about was retribution. And I got that today, thanks to you."

"You're bleeding, son..." He felt the blood at the center of his cheek and wiped the drop away with the pad of his thumb. "Listen to me, it's never to late to change. For you that is. You're strong. You're smart. You're fearless. And I should have let you know that a long time ago."

All these words Endeavor were speaking were just that. Words. It didn't matter what he said, it wouldn't change anything. "Let's say that you're right, maybe change is possible. But you have to be alive for that to happen. I've said it once before, Touya Todoroki is dead. He was weak. But not Dabi. Dabi is the fearless one that finally stepped up to the man who created him. Dabi was the one who walked out of those flames in that alleyway all those years ago. And you're insane if you think I'm going to give all that up just for some stupidass people to accept me in this society."

No matter how many times he said it, there was no way that Endeavor would start calling his son Dabi. That wasn't his name. That wasn't who he was. Endeavor disowned Touya many years ago but he still remembers how caring he was. How he tried so hard to prove himself. Touya wanted to be a hero even when he lacked the ability. He was filled with hope, not hatred like how Dabi was. "So your don't regret this at all?"

"Not a single bit. I taunt hero's because it's fun. I murder because it's fun. The only thing I feel when I kill someone is the rush that it gives me." He retorted back. "I mean, yeah, I would prefer looking normal. I never did like being stared at. But we don't always get what we want."

"You're okay with living this way? Being someone who you're not? I thought you hated that I turned you into this."

"I do hate it. Even when I want nothing to do with you, you're still part of the reason why I am who I am. You're like a cancer that I can't get rid of no matter how hard I try. You're stuck to me." Dabi faced out the window, "Maybe that's my punishment." He breathed a shaky sigh, "I'll always be like you even when I try to become someone else. You understand now?" He turned back around, this time tears in his eyes. "I'll always be a bad man. I can't change my fate, I just have to play with the cards I'm dealt and live with it."

Endeavor didn't know how to respond. His son was hurting and there was no way that he could comfort him. He thought about trying but that would make things worse. It's not like he could patch things up with a hug and a simple 'I love you.' This was a burnt bridge that was going to be impossible to rebuild with the ashes. "Get some rest." Was all he could say to his son. Before exiting the room to head home, Endeavor went into his wallet and pulled a piece of paper out, placing it on the table beside the door. After writing something on the back of it and folding it back up, he decided to give some advice. "Just think about who you want to be. Even if you think your mind is made up, I beg that you reconsider, my son."

When Endeavor left, Dabi fell back onto the bed. He wiped the tears away with his forearm, staring up at the ceiling. Blank. If only he could erase everything in his life and begin with a clean slate, that would be great. A prayer come true. Soon his eyes became heavy and sleep consumed him, allowing him to finally be at peace. Even if it was for only a small moment.

————

"Touya, honey. Are you alright?"

White, glossy hair grazed against him, tickling his pale face. He reached his trembling arm out, reaching for the woman's hands. "Mama...? Is that you?"

"Yes sweetheart, I'm right here. I'm here." Her smooth voice echoed softly. "Why are you hiding? What happened?"

He squeezed his eyes tight, feeling tears break free. His teeth gritted against each other. "I've done bad things, mom. I've hurt so many people. But it had to be done. I had to do it." Touya's teal eyes gazed up, only to find a blurred out version of his mother's face. She reached for his hand, holding it tenderly in hers. He gasped, pulling away. "No don't-!"

"Sweetheart...."

"Don't touch me." He chocked, "I don't want you to feel them..."

"Feel what?"

He looked down at his arms and hands, and his burns were gone. The pieces holding his face intact had vanished. It couldn't be true. Touya scrabbled to his hands and knees, looking around in the place he was stuck in. Everything was white. It was empty. Like a new world waiting to be born. Suddenly he looked down and the floor had turned into water. But he wasn't sinking. He looked into his reflection and there he was. Undamaged. Unburnt.

"I'm... I'm..." Touya scrapped his hands through his fiery red hair, his mother joining him, looking on in the clear water.

"That's you, Touya."

His head shook around, "No it's not, mom. That's not me." His voice trailed off into a whisper. "That'll never be me."

"It can be, son. You just have to want it to be."

"I can't go back to that. I won't go back to that!" He splashed the reflection away.

His mother stumbled backwards. Tears streaming down her face. A hand coming over her agape mouth. "Please... stop this. I'm begging you. Don't do this!" she cried harder.

"Touya couldn't do anything! Touya was too scared! Touya was too weak! Touya couldn't protect you!" He stalked forward towards his mother who was weeping on the ground, the water turning more and more black with each step he took. "Touya couldn't help you!"

A cold voice crept through the shadows , "But I can help you."

Touya looked back to see where the voice was coming from. Icy eyes that matched his was all that could be seen. "What the-" he stepped forward, running into a glass plate. He felt around him and realized that he was trapped. He banged on the glass as the eyes hovered closer over to his scared mother who was powerless.

"I can keep you safe. I can take care of you. But do I really want to?" A blue flame ignited, illuminating the room. The man looked over and smirked. Touya couldn't believe what his was seeing. It was him. No wait, it wasn't him. It was Dabi. The one he put all his strength and faith in. The one that, in his head, was power itself.

"Don't touch her! Please don't do this!"

Dabi lunged forward, grabbing the woman by the throat. Holding her up off the floor like she was some weightless rag doll. "Rei Todoroki." Her blurred out face became more clear and prominent. "The woman that caused me the most pain growing up."

"No...."

"Letting it all happen. What do you have to say for yourself?!" He shouted.

"Let her go! It's not her fault!" Touya tried to break free but he couldn't. All this time he made himself believe that he was weak, now he didn't even have the strength to save his mother from... himself.

"I love you, son. I always have." Rei trembled in Dabi's grasp. "I always will."

Dabi smirked, "That's not good enough." And in an instant Rei had began to char by the blue flames that embraced her as her screams echoed in Touya's head like how they used to do when he was young.

"Mom!" He heaved, choking on his own tears watching her body be disintegrated and her ashes piled onto the ground. "You monster! I'm going to kill you!"

Dabi chuckled, walking through his mother's ashes as they clung to his bloody shoes. "Kill me? Why would you do that? You don't even want to get rid of me." He kneeled down, centimeters from Touya's face, "You need me."

_______________

Dabi shot out of bed, gasping for air. He panted viciously, trying to catch his breath. Then wiped the sweat from his forehead with his palm and realized that his whole head was soaked. He swung his legs over the bed and rushed towards the sink. He turned the water on, splashing it over his face. His quick breathing began to slow down as he tried to calm himself down. His fingers gripped the sink as he slowly looked up into the mirror and began tracing over his burns and stitches. "Monster." Was all that Dabi could say about himself.

This wasn't what he intended on becoming. He just wanted to be strong. But at what cost? His freedom? His morals; if he had any left. After drying his face with a towel, his eyes then came across the note that Endeavor left on the counter. Dabi huffed before grabbing it.

The paper looked old, having a yellowish tint to it. The edges looked to be crisp and slightly burned as well. He flipped it over and saw numbers that he assumed was a phone number or something. "The hell?" After opening it up, he realized that it wasn't just some piece of paper with random numbers. It was a picture. Studying over it, he then held it close to his chest as he cried softly. The picture was of him when he was about 4 years old looking on in awe at his parents who were knelt beside him. Endeavor holding a flame in his palm and Rei forming ice in hers. He remembered that day. He remembered his parents saying that one day he'd grow up to be a great hero. How his mother told him that he was already the bravest boy she's ever know. His father obviously saying that he had his genes so he was born for greatness. But they were proud of him none the less and couldn't wait for his quirk to manifest.

Dabi always thought about how different his life would have been if he knew of his quirk sooner and how to control it. Would he have turned into a great hero? Would his father have learned to love him for who he was instead of ranking him based off of his power? Would his mother be happy? Would his siblings even be alive if he was never going to be replaced? These questions were what drove Dabi mad. This was why he blamed himself for so many things going wrong in his life. Why was he so screwed up? How come he couldn't have just been born normal, with a quirk that wouldn't hurt him if he used it wrong? "Why me? I never wanted to be like this."

The door then creaked open slowly. He quickly pulled himself together and held the picture behind his back. In walked Shouto. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you." He said, "Thought you may have been lonely."

"I'm used to being alone."

"Don't be so emo."

Dabi raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"My classmates always say that when I talk, I sound "emo". Whatever that's supposed to mean." He scratched his head, "I think I'm using the term right." Shouto walked in and closed the door. "What are you holding behind your back?"

Dabi thought of saying something along the lines of 'don't worry about it.' Or 'Mind your damn business, brat." But he had to know something. He folded the pictures behind his back and held it out. "Do you know what these numbers mean?"

When Shouto went to grab it to get a closer look, his brother kept a tight hold of it not wanting him to take the picture out of his grasp. He leaned closer and studied the numbers. "Where did you get this?"

"Enji."

"Why would he give you the number to the hospital that moms staying at?"

His eyes grew wide. "Um. I-I don't know." He lied. Was this Endeavor's way of trying to get him to change? By talking to his mother? That would never work. Mostly because he highly doubted that his mother would ever want to see him, especially after seeing how he's not her sweet little boy anymore. Far from that to be exact. "I'm guessing you haven't talked to her either? Considering she poured boiling water on your face."

"I do talk to her actually. I try to visit her on the weekends. She's doing a lot better. The doctors have even said that her mood has been improving since our visits. I always thought she'd be better off without me, but... all this time it turned out that she needed me. She needs us."

"Us?" He shook his head and chuckled, "No Shouto. Maybe Natsuo and Fuyumi, but not me."

"You're her first born." He argued.

"I'm also a murderer. You think that's something that she'd forgive or look past?"

Shouto had to admit, he did have a point. "You don't have to see her, but calling and letting her know that you're alive will make her happy." He looked down and sighed, "She doesn't have to know about this side of you. What she doesn't know won't hurt her?"

Dabi scoffed, "So that's your solution? Put up a front so she doesn't actually know me." He walked away, "You're just like Enji. Wanting me to change in order to be accepted."

"It's not about acceptance! It's so she won't be scared of you!" Dabi jerked his head around and scowled at his brother who gave himself a face palm, "That didn't come out right. I apologize."

"If you don't have anything of importance to say to me then get the hell out of here. I never needed any of you then, and I don't need anyone now."

"Sorry to hear that." Dabi turned his attention to the opening door. "Guess we'll be going then."

"No way..." Dabi said in disbelief under his breath, "Natsuo... Fuyumi..."

"Hi, big brother."

.........

.........

.........

.........


	6. No Reflection

No way this was real. It couldn't be. Could it? No... Maybe? Dabi stumbled backwards, "Wait... This can't... How did you-."

"We didn't know when the right time to see you would be." Fuyumi spoke.

"So we decided now would be better than never."

Dabi put up a front and scoffed, "You should have never came to see me. There's no point. Now go." He didn't want anybody near him. He was still so confused. He didn't know who he was. Who he wanted to be. Now having his siblings here made things even worse. He didn't even know how else to communicate with them. Dabi had no idea how to act like Touya anymore, and he wasn't even completely sure if he wanted to.

Natsuo slowly walked over to him, "We just want to help you, Touya."

Before he realized what was going on, Dabi had already captured his younger brother by the collar, his hands releasing steam instead of fire when he tugged him closer. "Do you think I need your help? Do I look miserable and scared to you?" His eyes darkened as his voice dropped into a growl. Natsuo's body began to slightly shake, "Are you afraid of me, little brother?"

"Stop this." Shouto demanded as his sister held him back.

Natsuo gulped, then straightened up his posture and furrowed his white brows. "Like hell I am." He tightened his hand around Dabi's wrist and pulled him off his shirt. "What I want is my brother back. When I say that, I don't mean the sickly little boy. What I mean, is the man standing in front of me who wasn't afraid to stand up to our piece of garbage father. The man that fought too hard for too long to grow up to be as strong as he is. I want the man that was able to fight off death and recover from a freaking hole in his chest! That's my brother! That's you, Touya! Not some villain that hides behind a fake persona, my brother is you."

For a brief moment the room was filled with silence. For a second you could even hear the ticking sound from the clock hanging on the wall. Everybody knew that there was good in Touya's heart. But the only thing that had to be done was for him to accept it. In his mind, his heart was a burnt, shriveled up piece of flesh that pumped cold blood through his veins.

"You don't know me."

"Neither do you." Fuyumi finally intervened. "There is good in your heart. Because if there wasn't then you would have never let Shouto live that night."

"I changed my mind." Flames engulfed his hands, "And I can change it again if I wanted to."

"That's all we needed to hear." A voice echoed from a purple portal. Everybody looked on in horror as The League of Villain's walked through Kurogiri's warp gate. Shigaraki placed a hand, with one finger up, on Dabi's shoulder. "We were just waiting for you to get healthy again so you could re join us." He smiled sinisterly. "C'mon Patchwork. Let's go."

"Handy Mans got big plans for us, Dabi!" Toga cheered, "Its going to be great and it's all thanks to you!"

"Hell yeah! I missed you so much Dabi! I was worried sick! **_Drop dead jerky face!_** "

Twice greeted excitedly. "Hey, who's the squad?"

Dabi looked over at the league then back at his family. "They're nobody." He discreetly put the picture he was holding in his back pocket. "Let's go. I hate hospitals."

"Don't do this, Touya!" Natsuo warned.

Shouto stood beside his brother, "This is your second chance. Are you seriously going to waste it like this?"

Fuyumi had tears in her eyes, "We're your family. Does that mean nothing to you?" Her voice cracked. "All these years we thought you were dead. And now that we finally have you back you want to run away! Run away with these vile thugs!?"

"Whoa hey, back off sister!" Twice stepped up to the smaller woman, "Dabi may not be blood but he's our family too y'know."

"Yeah, sure Handy-Man tried killing him and I when we first met but since then we've all taken care of each other. You guys have caused him more pain than some "vile thugs" ever could. Isn't that right, Dabi?" Toga crossed her arms confidently with a huge smile on her face. She looked up at him when he didn't answer. His expression. It was unlike anything she's ever seen. Dabi always had a laid back, uncaring look on his face, but this time, she could tell by the look in his eyes that something wasn't sitting right with him. "Hey?" She tugged his arm, "You okay?" She asked, "You still want to come with us right?"

Dabi moved Shigaraki's hand off of him. "For years I've let others influence what I did in my life. Now everybody is acting like they know what's best for me." His teeth gritted against each other as his fists clenched tightly. "I'm sick of it."

"Touya-"

"Dabi-"

Both sides of his family reached out to him. "Shut up! Just please, be quiet!." His hands gripped at his head. "All I hear is voices! They're all just screaming at me! It's making me go insane!" He crouched down in pain. His heart was racing, stomach twisting. Tears began to drip from his eyes. "They all want me to do what they want! Like I'm some sort of slave! A damn puppet! Just leave me alone! Everybody just get away from me!" He screamed uncontrollably.

"Hey I think he's gonna split in half!" Twice warned, comparing Dabi's anxiety attack to his own splitting personality disorder.

A gust of blue fire whirled around a screaming Dabi. A tornado of death grew large, blowing out the windows and setting off fire alarms. Shouto tried restraining him with his ice but it quickly melted when it came close to the flames.

"Kurogiri! Get us the hell out of here!" Shigaraki shouted.

"We aren't leaving without Dabi!" Twice threw caution to the wind and attempted to grab his friend until Toga pulled him back.

"Stop you'll get burned!"

"Don't you touch him!" Shouto dove into the flames. Screaming surrounded everyone as everything faded into black.

.

.

.

Heavy gasps and choking surrounded the group. The hot smoke made it almost impossible to breath.

"What the hell..." Shigaraki grunted as he pushed himself up off the floor. "That exit couldn't have been worse."

"Awwww, my outfit is burned." Toga whined, sticking her bottom lip out to form a pout.

"That sucked, man." Twice rubbed his head, " ** _Again! Again!_** "

Shigaraki brushed the hair out of his face and gasped, "Kurogiri you idiot, what are they doing here?!" He screamed, pointing at Shouto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo who were laid out on the floor of their hideout.

"Everyone went through my warp gate. It wasn't my fault."

"Doesn't matter if they're here or not. Dabi belongs to us. And there's nothing these brats can do to take him back." Tomura grinned manically, facing his palms up, "Dabi said he'd kill his brother, that means we can carry that out for him, along with the rest of his family."

"We're not scared of you, Shigaraki." Shouto exclaimed, wielding ice and fire in each hand, "I will fight for my brothers freedom if it kills me."

"Freedom?" Toga whipped her knives out, "Dont make me laugh, cutie boy. Dabi chose to come with us."

"You're all the reason why he had a panic attack!" Natsuo shouted.

"Take that back, frosty!" Twice screamed back.

"Will you all shut up!" Fuyumi forced her way in between each group, "He's gone... Touya's gone again."

The League and Todoroki's looked around. She was right. He had just vanished into thin air.

:

:

:

:

Dabi found himself in one of the other LoV bases. He scanned the room and realized that he was the only one there. He was confused for a moment until he started to make sense of things. "Smokey did this on purpose. But why?" He stood up and heard something hit the floor. It was the picture. Dabi picked it up, looking at the number on the back. With a sigh, he put it back in his back pocket. "We always did say Kurogiri was the mother of the group."

He understood what he needed to do now. After showering and finding some new clothes, Dabi looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't know who was staring back at him. Was it Touya? Was it Dabi? All he knew was that his nerves were eating away at him. This wasn't a feeling he's felt in a long time. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in attempt to calm himself down. Dabi never cared too much about his appearance since he got used to it, but he kept finding himself staring in the slightly broken mirror over and over again.

With a scoff he opened the door to Toga's room. The overwhelming amounts of pink made him want to gag. On her dresser was a brush that had bunny ears on it. He winced before using it to brush his hair more to his liking. After doing that he looked through the small glass bottles she had scattered in a basket. There was a small vile that had red liquid in it with something written across it. Curious, he picked the bottle up and examined it. The tape on the side read 'Deku's Blood <3'. "Ugh!" He dropped it back into place and wiped his hands on his black jeans, "What a creep." After searching a little longer he found some cologne, "She really gets into her disguises." Lucky for him, that was exactly what he was looking for. Once he sprayed himself, he put everything back where it was supposed to be and shut the door. If Toga found out that he was snooping in her room, she'd probably see that as an opportunity to try and get him to have a spa day with her again. "Gross."

In one of the drawers in the kitchen, were a bunch of burner phones. His hands shook as he picked one up and dialed a number. With each ring his heart pounded harder and harder. Finally someone answered, "Yeah I'd like to schedule a visit." ... "Her names Rei Todoroki." ... "This is her son."


	7. The Reunion

There it was. The room of Rei Todoroki. Dabi couldn't believe he was standing right outside her door. Although there was a wall separating them, it felt like they were worlds apart. His hand shook as he held the doorknob, but there was one problem. He couldn't turn it. All of these bad thoughts began to flood his brain. Things like, _What if she doesn't remember me? What if I scare her? What if she wants nothing to do with me?_

After 10 long years of praying to one day see his mother again, he just couldn't do it. He pulled the hood to his jacket farther down so that it covered half of his face and zipped it all the way up so that it covered half of his mouth. "Dammit." He cursed, letting his forehead hit the door as it made a thud sound.

"Come in." A soft, angelic voice answered.

Dabi's hands slapped across his mouth. His heart raced and body shivered. _Shit! Shit! Shit! I could just run. Right now! Run and pretend this never happened._

"Son, I said you can come in."

Dabi squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, "Screw it." He entered the room, quickly shutting the door behind him. His breath was nearly stolen out of his lungs when he saw his mother sitting on her chair, facing out the window. Her beautiful white hair fell below her shoulders. Her face looking as young as he remembered. And the sound of her voice was enough to comfort even the most damaged soul.

"They said my son was visiting." She spoke quietly, "Shoto only visits the weekends, and Natsuo always comes with his sister. So who are you?" Rei turned her head staring at the man in all black. "A friend of my husband? Are you here to relay a message he has for me?"

"No." Was all that Dabi could say. There were no words. Sure he had practiced countless times in his head what he would say if he ever saw his mother again, but none of that felt right anymore. Words couldn't express what he was feeling. Rei stood up and briskly walked closer to him, making Dabi flinch and take a step black. "Don't come any closer." He warned out of fright that she'd see his scarred face.

"Can you at least take off the hood?" She asked, tilting her head trying to steal a peak.

"Aren't you scared?" He questioned.

She chuckled softly, "Should I be? You don't look like you came here to hurt me."

"I didn't."

"Then what's the problem?"

He reached his arm up and placed a hand on top of his head, holding the hood in place, "You have to promise me something before I do this. Please, whatever you do." Dabi squeezed his watery eyes shut, "Please don't be disappointed."

"I promise." She smiled softly.

"Okay." He exhaled shakily and slowly took off the hood and slightly unzipped his jacket. He was too horrified to even open his eyes. What if the look on his mother's face was exactly what he envisioned. Absolutely terrified. After a few moments of silence, there was nothing else to do but to open his eyes. His teal orbs met his mother's grey ones. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. The fact that she didn't look scared was definitely a good sign.

"Wow... You um... Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?" She reached her hand out cupping his face as he pressed his check closer up against her palm. Tears streamed down his face. Ten years he went without feeling his mother's touch. And it was everything he remembered that it would be. Although she had an ice quirk, her hands were anything but cold. In fact, they were warm and loving. "Hey, can you at least tell me your name?"

Dabi didn't expect her to recognize him at first glance. After all, he did go through some dramatic alterations over the years. He swallowed the lump in his throat and answered her question. "It's Touya. Touya Todoroki." He felt his mother's hand stiffen. Immediately, the bad thoughts reached his head once again. _Here it comes. She's going to hate me._

"Is this a trick?" She pulled away, "It isn't funny you know." Her voice cracked as her eyes began to sting. "If you have something against my husband, I want you to know that trying to hurt him by getting to me is the last thing you want to do." Rei was almost shouting at this point, "I don't know where you've heard that name but I want you to never speak it again! Do you understand me?" Ice began to form on her body, crawling up her arms and legs as if it was about to form a suit of armor. "This isn't a game. And I want you to know that pretending to be someone who you're not is the worst thing anyone could possibly do!" She cried.

Dabi's vision became clear after hearing those words. She was right. All this pretending. All of this acting. It didn't make him feel any better, at least not in the ways he had hoped for. "I know. Before I go, I just want to show you something." He reached in his back pocket to pull out the picture he was saving. That was when it felt like the world stopped. It was gone. In a panic he quickly checked the rest of his pockets trying to find the picture but to no avail. "Damn it, I must have dropped it on my way here." He searched the floor around him to make sure it didn't fall somewhere in the room, "It was all I had. It was irreplaceable. And I... I lost it."

"What was it?"

He looked up, seeing his mother's eyes become cold. "Nothing." He lied, "Just something stupid." Dabi came to the conclusion that having his mother think that he was just some random who was trying to get back at Endeavor was what was best. There was no way that she'd accept him after how he's become. "I'm sorry for bothering you, mo-" he stuttered, "I mean, Rei Todoroki." He turned on his heels but before he could leave he felt her hand roughly turn him around. Rei's hands held him tightly by the arms.

"If you're really him, I want you to prove it to me." Her lips quivered, "I need to know that my baby boy is still alive or not." Her head drooped down and her legs buckled under her weight. It was like her heavy heart was weighing her down.

Dabi held her up so she wouldn't collapse to the floor, "I'm your first born. I was always sick when I was little. You used to stay by my bedside and sing to me until I'd fall asleep. You were there to comfort me after Enji would push me too hard in training. I would tell you how I hated how everyone would say how much I resembled my father. I even tried chopping my hair off once so that it wouldn't look like his. You even walked in on me once trying to pierce my nose with safety pins when I was 13 just so I'd look different. You would tell me that it was okay to feel sad. That I didn't have to be afraid. And that no matter how weak I felt that I could make myself strong enough. That I was brave enough to do anything. That no matter if I had a quirk or not, or if I looked like my father or not... that you'd always love me."

Rei's hands slid down his arms and stopped at his hands, "Why did you leave?" She whispered. "Where did you go?"

"I couldn't watch everyone suffer anymore. I blamed myself every time he hit you and the rest of them. I thought that if I was born strong then we would have all been happy. I was nothing more than a calamity in our family."

Rei shook her head, denying her sons last statement. She held his hands up to her face and slowly rolled up his sleeves. Her fingers tenderly brushed against his rough scarring. "Does it hurt?"

He shook his head, "Only sometimes. But I'm kinda used to it." Before Dabi could react he felt his mother's arms wrap tightly around his thin waist.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. You've been alone, hurting this whole time. I assumed the worst and I'm sorry, Touya! I'm so sorry!" She sobbed hard into his chest, "I always wanted what was best for you but I couldn't give you that. I couldn't protect you from this."

"Hey, it's okay mom." That word felt almost foreign rolling off of his tongue. "I mean, you were right. I made myself strong and I'm able to survive anything."

"How did it happen?" She asked not being able to control her ongoing tears. It tore Rei apart seeing how her son was so hurt. She couldn't even begin to imagine his pain. All she wanted to do was hug him and never let go until his sorrow and worries were washed away.

"Well, I tried to use Enji's special move he was trying to teach me. I thought I could do it if I focused hard enough but I was wrong. My body isn't compatible with my quirk. Which is why I look like this. I wanted to be able to come home and make everybody proud, but instead I ran away and never looked back."

"I wish there was a way for me to go back and change everything you had to go through. If I would have payed more attention to you then maybe-"

"Stop it. Don't blame yourself."

"When you use your flames; does it still..." she couldn't bare to finish her sentence. The only thing worse than someone not having full control over their quirk is someone who's ability harms them physically whenever they use it.

"It burns. Which is why I try not to use my flames for too long. Like I said, I've grown used to it at this point, so it isn't as bad anymore."

Rei sniffled, wiping her eyes with her forearm. "Can I see them?"

Dabi nodded, taking his hoodie off. He wore a white t-shirt that exposed his arms and some of his chest. "Try not to get too grossed out."

"My baby." She scanned her eyes over his body and held her hands up to her mouth. "Burns or not, you still look like an angel to me."

He chuckled, "I don't know what angels you've been looking at."

"Sit down. There's still so much to talk about." She took him by the hand and walked him over to her bed. "What was it that you wanted to show me earlier? You looked really upset."

Dabi sighed, "It was a picture of you, me and Enji. I was maybe 4 and you had ice in your hand and he had fire in his. It was the only picture of us that I ever had."

Rei went searching in her drawers and throwing things on the floor. She finally found what she was looking for. It was a photo album.she sat beside her son and flipped through the pages, "Is it this one?" She pointed to the picture. It was the exact same one that Endeavor had given him, except this one was in better condition.

"Yeah it is. Enji gave me his copy. Yours looks better though."

"I didn't think he'd carry this around with him." She smiled softly. She unattached the picture from the page and handed it to her son. "Here it's yours now."

"Are you sure?" He asked, almost feeling guilty if he accepted the picture.

"Of course, I have a photo album anyways. When you visit again, maybe we'll go through it if you're interested."

"I don't know about that..."

She tilted her head in confusion, "Why not?"

"I can't stay here. I just needed to see you before I go."

"Touya." Rei held his hand tightly, "Where are you going?" He looked down and sighed. "You don't know, do you?" All he could do was nod. "I can't stop you. But I know that you'll do what is best for you. Wether you're here with me or somewhere out there, I know you'll be okay."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you're my son. You can survive anything and everything."

He scoffed, "Unfortunately."

"Don't say that. You deserve to be happy."

Dabi couldn't leave his mother in the dark forever. It felt like he was still lying and not being true to himself. "I told you who I really am. But I didn't tell you what I really am."

Rei was confused, "I don't understand."

"I'm a villain. A monster."

"Touya." She reached her hand out to touch his but he waved her off.

"No, you have to know everything. You may think you still want me as your son but you don't know everything yet."

"Then tell me."

"I've murdered people, mom. I've hurt so many people in my life and felt nothing afterwards. I tried killing Enji. I nearly killed Shouto." He looked down at his scarred palms, "These hands have so much blood on them. And I can't promise that I can stop killing. Even if I do, It doesn't change the fact that I don't regret any of it. I did what had to be done so people could know the truth about what Enji did to us. I wanted people to be scared and not see these damn hero's as these false gods. I had to show everyone that you don't need to rely on somebody to save you. I saved myself because I learned that I was strong enough when everyone said that I wasn't. If killing off hero's was what I needed to do in order for people to open their eyes, then I had no problem with it."

Rei felt tears running down her cheek. Seeing her son hurt was hard enough, but finding out that he also inflicted so much pain felt like a punch to the gut. She had to come to terms that he wasn't the same little boy who dreamed of being a strong hero. No, he was indeed a villain who was owning up to his long list of crimes. It felt like her heart was being ripped in two. No matter what Touya has done, he is and always will be her son who she loves dearly. She didn't know if not being angry or afraid of him was concerning or not, but this is her first born. Nothing that he's done could change how much she still loved him. He was alive when all these years she thought he was dead. Having him here with her was a miracle.

Although, being a victim of abuse and on the receiving end of having fear inflicted onto them, she couldn't agree with her sons ideology. It wasn't bad to want someone to save you from whatever hell you're living in. It didn't mean you were weak. Even people with the strongest constitutions and wills also need somebody to lean on for support. Needing someone by your side for help isn't anything to be ashamed of. Wanting help when you feel alone and scared doesn't make you weak. It's what makes you human. She needed her son to know that. Rei made sure that he understood that she wouldn't disown him, but she wanted to guide him on the right path and help him find his footing.

"I'm so confused, mom. I just wanted this to be an easier world to live in. I didn't care at the time how it would paint me as a villain, but now I don't understand why I'm the bad guy in this situation. Is it that bad for us to use our quirks without limitations so that society could grow stronger as a whole so that we wouldn't need hero's? That way we'd be our own hero."

"This isn't about hero's, is it Touya?"

"Huh?"

"You're reflecting how you personally felt onto society."

"There's others like me. Maybe not to this extreme but-"

Rei cut him off, "Listen, son. We all need someone to be there for us, whether it be friends, family, or heroes. It's not a bad thing to put faith in someone-"

"No!" He stood up, "We need to put faith in ourselves!"

"Touya, calm down." She instructed boldly.

"You don't get it! None of you can see the world how people like us do because you're all so used to being cradled and guided by this messed up fucking society!" He slammed his fist on the table making his mother jump. "You're all like sheep just doing what you're told. And it makes me sick. I'm tired of being the bad guy because I think for myself!"

"Do you think killing people is the answer? Is that your way of rebelling?"

"You're so simple minded. Look at things through our eyes. There's a reason why people like us are the way we are."

"Us?"

Dabi clenched his jaw. It took him a while to see the members of the league as more than just his comrades. But once they all gained each other's trust, they felt more comfortable talking about things that happened in their lives that made them want to change the world. Twice was the first that talked about his condition and how he was never able to find help, more so find someone willing to help a guy like him. Spinner shared a story about how he got mugged but some D list hero refused to help him because of his "mutant" quirk. They just watched him get attacked and then went on with their business. Then there was Toga who's parents saw that she needed quirk counseling from a very young age but refused to let her see a professional, mostly because they thought that people who needed extra help understanding themselves were crazy. The neglect turned her pretty much rabid. Similar to his situation, which was why Dabi sometimes saw her as a little sister. Then there was Shigaraki. Now that guy, he needed the most help out of anybody, but there wasn't a "kind" soul in sight who reached out to help him. That was until his master, All For One stepped in and guided him on his current path.

"Yeah... My friends. The ones who actually understand what the less fortunate struggle with each and everyday. We couldn't be saved because nobody wanted to help us." Dabi walked towards the door, "It was a mistake coming here."

"Touya please!" Rei rain after him, "Don't go."

"I can't expect someone like you to understand."

She raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean someone like me?"

"You could have walked away." He growled, "But you didn't. You knew he wouldn't like that and the rest of us had to suffer. Maybe if you trusted your own power, then I wouldn't be like this. That is why he chose you right? Because of your strong quirk." Dabi scoffed, shaking his head. Part of him wanted to stop but he couldn't help all the hate spewing from his mouth. He kneeled down to his mother's level and continued his wordy assault. "Now look where we are. All because you couldn't save yourself. You were too busy praying that someone would come to your rescue and now you're caged here in a lonely hospital."

Rei had enough and slapped her son hard across the face. He held his cheek in shock. "You will not speak to me that way, Touya Todoroki! I won't stand for it! I am your mother and I'm not going to let you talk down to me like this just because you're hurting on the inside. The world isn't a fair place and there's prejudice everywhere. I understand that. But killing people? Hating society so much that you wanna watch it burn because a few people hurt you along the way? That's not the way to go. You can find a middle ground where things don't have to be taken to such an extreme."

"What the hell am I supposed to do then, huh?!" He shouted, "How else are you supposed to open up peoples minds so that they can see that those who look at hero society in an unconventional way aren't they bad guys. Just because we don't want to be hero's or even worship them, it makes people believe that we're damned to be criminals. It's like the moment you develop some quirk that society doesn't see as heroic you either try to prove people wrong or succumb to their idiotic standards. Tell me how that's fair! Tell me how trying to make this place an easier world to live in is so bad! Sometimes blood needs to be shed in order for the violence to stop. And right now, because of what Endeavor admitted to, we're in the middle of a war, and I'm on the winning side."

Rei was taken back. She's never looked at things from this perspective. Yes she wanted her son to live in a world where he'd feel safe and accepted, but at what cost? More death and destruction? Would it be selfish to make others perish if it meant your son would thrive? Yeah, it was completely selfish but... Parts of her did agree with his ideology.

"What do you mean what Endeavor admitted to?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, you're not allowed to have access to tv and junk." He pulled up a video of his father confronting the press and admitting to his vile actions of the past. "People are rioting over this." Dabi handed her his phone so she could watch. "I'll give him credit. Didn't think he'd ever be man enough to admit to all this shit out loud."

Rei watched as her husband came clean. It was indeed hard to watch. She scrolled through the comments and read peoples thoughts. Things really weren't as black and white as strangers thought it to be. It upset her how people were looking at their life as something so two dimensional. There's good and bad qualities in everybody and people chose to focus on only the negative. It's true that her husband caused her emotional and physical damage but at the same time he isn't the monster a lot of people are saying that he is. All of this was just too much to process and it made her mind feel numb. "I don't understand. What was he trying to prove to the world? How does this fix anything?"

"I think he was trying to save me. But the thing is, I'd rather die than be saved by the likes of him. After what he did to you, and what he put Shouto, Fuyumi and Natsuo through. I won't let him feel like the father that he's trying to be."

Rei wiped her eyes and gazed at her son, "Have you ever consider forgiveness, Touya? Not for his sake, but for yours."

He scoffed while shaking his head, "I could never-"

"Just because you forgive doesn't mean you're saying what he's done was okay. But it's about moving on and knowing that change is possible. You don't have to forget the bad things. Believe me, I didn't think it was possible. In my heart though," she smiled weakly, "I know that forgiving him was the right thing to do. I despised that man for a long time but having all that hate in me was causing me more pain. I still can't bare to see him in person, but watching this proves that he's not the same man that he used to be."

"Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not. I'm trying to help you. All it takes is one bad day, and that hate in you will finally explode and you won't be able to come back from it."

"I signed my death warrant a long time ago."

Rei pinched the bridge of her nose, "You're so hard headed just like your father."

"Don't compare me to him."

"Touya," she sighed, "I want what's best for you. All of this anger isn't healthy and you need to suck the poison out of your life. Starting with your father."

"It's not that easy!" He argued.

"I'm not saying that it is! Do you think your sister and I forgave Enji over night? No! It was a long process but the moment we forgave, we felt free because he didn't have that power to invoke pain onto us anymore! I'm happier now, Touya. I feel more at peace with myself. I just want you to try."

The two sat there in silence. Neither being able to agree with the others views. It's not easy showing up in someone's life and trying to change the way they think. In fact, to some it comes off as down right offensive.

"Where are you going to go from here?" She asked.

Dabi looked up at her. There were several paths ahead of him once agin. Which will he take?"

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A/N: Just wanna day it was kinda hard writing this since abuse is a really touchy subject. I kinda reflected my personal views onto Rei because that's how I dealt with my trauma with my step father. It wasn't until I was older that I started to slowly forgive him when he began to change. Hate and resentment ate me alive at a very early age but I like to think that I was strong enough to get through it. And honestly, I'm a lot happier now. Anyways, that's enough of me rambling. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and comment to let me know what you think. Oh and Merry Christmas :)


	8. Two Sides

It's been about a month since the incident in the hospital with the League of Villains took place. Shouto hadn't heard a word from his brother since. No phone call, no text, nothing. Everything going on in his personal life was really starting to take a toll on his academics. Todoroki sighed, leaning his face lazily against his palm as he sighed and looked at the test in front of him that said C- in red ink at the top corner of the page.

"You barely passed again, Todoroki?" Momo asked. It didn't take a rocket scientist to be able to tell that her classmate seemed to be very distracted lately. Although, she couldn't blame him. His brother was missing. "If you want you could come over to my dorm and I could tutor you." She turned her head away, attempting to hide her blush with her hair and hand.

"Thanks, Yaoyorozu. Unfortunately I don't think any amount of tutoring could help. I just have a lot on my mind is all." He opened up a folder that had a lot of graded work in it, most failing or barely passing, and put it back in his bag.

Momo pressed her lips together and scratched the back of her neck. She hated seeing her classmates in distress. She wanted to help in anyway she could. "If you need to talk about what's going on, I'm here for you. That's what friends are for." She smiled softly.

"Just drop it already. Everything's fine." He coldly dismissed her offer, which gained the attention of some of his classmates who were close to hear their conversation or just eavesdropping.

"Jeez, Icy-Hot what's crawled up your ass?" Bakugou turned in his desk, draping his arm over the chair. Todoroki shot him a death glare. "Oh I get it. Look, your brother is gone and left you behind. If he actually gave a rats ass about you, don't you think he would have reached out by now?" The fire and ice hero's fists trembled. "Seriously, he's a villain so who gives a damn if he's out there alive or not."

"Kacchan!" Deku tried to hush his friend.

"What? I'm just saying what everybody here is thinking. Get the hell over it."

The class sat in awkward silence.

"Is that true?" Todoroki stared everyone down. "You think I should move on and not worry about my brother because he was a villain."

"Is a villain." Bakugou corrected. "Was would mean he's changed or that he's dead. I mean, he could be the later."

"Lay off, Bakugou. Damn." Jirou spoke up, "Your jerk meter is at an all time high today."

Uraraka ran up to her friend, "It's not that we think you should get over it, Todoroki. It's just hard for us to fully wrap our head around this. I mean, back at camp, some of us nearly got killed by your brother and the League. Plus, they kidnapped Bakugou." She twiddled her thumbs nervously as she tried to explain the views of the class to her best ability.

"Speak for yourself." Everyone turned to face in the direction of the voice. It was Hagakure. "People change their ways and you can't hold them accountable for their mistakes for the rest of their lives. It's just not right."

"But Hagakure." Asui croaked, "You were one of the students that was hospitalized because of the League's attack. How could you dismiss everything so easily?"

She scoffed, "I'm not. All I'm saying is don't lump me in with the rest of you." She crossed her arms.

"Whatever Invisible girl." Bakugou rolled his eyes, "Looks like you got one supporter Todoroki." It may have seemed like Katsuki was being extra harsh, but he just felt strongly about the situation. This guy was literally the one who captured him and pulled him into that damn portal. And if Dabi would have never done that, then All Might would have never had to rescue him from the Leagues grasp and ultimately use up the last of his strength against AFO.

Todoroki looked up with hatred in his eyes, "Shut your mouth, Bakugou."

He chuckled, "Or what? You'll shut it for me?" He smirked, holding his hand up as sparks popped off his fingertips.

"Why don't you worry about how you were the one who ended All Might." He shot back with malice in his voice. His upper lip curled in a grimace.

After hearing those words, Bakugou sat there stunned. Stopping the sparks coming off his fingers. The class gulped and tried distancing themselves away from the two boys. "Wh-what did you just say to me?" His voice shook.

"Kacchan, he didn't mean that."

"And while you're at it, think about how you'll always be in Midoriya's shadow. We all know that he'll be a better hero than you." Deku slapped his hand over his mouth, praying that nobody heard his gasp. Todoroki wasn't holding back. He wanted to hurt Bakugou in whatever way he saw possible. Whether it be physically, emotionally, or in this case, verbally.

Bakugou growled and leapt over his desk and lunged at Todoroki. "You bastard! I'll fucking kill you!" He tackled the boy to the ground and started punching him.

"Bakugou, nock it off!" Sero shot his tape out at Katsuki's arm trying to pull it back so he couldn't throw another punch. "He didn't mean it, man!" He tugged harder but it didn't do much other than piss Bakugou off more.

Todoroki head butted the boy, knocking him off. He then began to throw his own punches, this time lacing his knuckles with ice to make his strikes more impactful. Momo couldn't watch this violence anymore and tried pulling them apart. She grabbed Todoroki by the arm as did Iida while Kirishima and Deku tried dragging Bakugou off of him. Both boys kicked and cursed at each other as their arms were restrained.

"This is not how heroes act you two!" Iida yelled, "Stop this before Mr.Aizawa sees this and expels you both!"

"Get off of me!" Bakugou pulled his elbow back, hitting Kirishima in the nose, making him lose grip. He pushed Deku away causing him to stumble to the floor. He shot a small explosion at Todoroki who was able to move. Unfortunately, in doing so it caught Yaoyorozu right in the face.

"Ow!" She squeezed her eyes shut and put pressure on them with her hands, trying to rub out the sting. "I can't see." Asui and Jirou counseled her, helping her wash out her eyes with a water bottle.

Todoroki stopped for a split second watching her scream in pain. He growled and engulfed his other hand in flames, "Bakugou.... this is your fault!"

"No!" Iida tried catching him but Todoroki had already taken off. He grabbed Bakugou by the collar of his torn shirt and pulled back his fiery fist.

"This'll teach you to stop running your mouth!" His teeth gritted, as he was about to strike again. Suddenly he noticed that his flames wouldn't ignite anymore. Bakugou saw this as his advantage and squeezed Todoroki by the face and attempted to shoot an explosion, but it wouldn't fire.

"What the?"

"Stop this right now or I'll be forced to pull you apart myself." Aizawa's eyes grew red as his hair stood up tall in waves. "I leave for 5 minutes and a fight breaks out. I should expel-" he shut off his quirk when he noticed Yaoyorozu crying in the corner with the girls trying to comfort her. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"It was Bakugou's fault." Todoroki snitched.

"Shut up!"

"You both shut your mouths right now!" The students jumped, they've never heard Aizawa scream like that before. "Jirou, take her to Recovery Girl quickly. Everyone else, class is dismissed. Except for you two." He glared at the two boys who did the same to each other.

After the room cleared, Aizawa motioned for both of the students to meet him in the front of the class. "So what now?" Bakugou wiped the blood off his nose with his forearm. "Gonna expel us? Cuz if you are, I just wanna say this is Icy-Hots fault."

"I should expel you both. Not only because you chose to fight each other, but because you hurt Yaoyorozu in the process." They looked down feeling ashamed that their insolent actions caused their classmate to get hurt. "I'm not gonna do that though. Or else I'd never hear the end of it. Imagine me having to expel the finalists in the Sports Festival." They exhaled in relief. "But don't think I'm not taking this seriously."

"If you were taking it seriously then why does it feel like you're going easy on us?" Todoroki asked.

Aizawa sighed, "Look, it was just a fight. It happens. But kicking you out of UA and taking away your future careers as heroes isn't justly. Does that punishment fit the crime to you?"

"I guess not."

"Listen, I just hope the two of you learn from this. Fighting over a disagreement will get you nowhere and it'll get the ones around you hurt. Remember that."

"Yes sir."

"That being said, I will have to punish you both."

"Lay it on us." Bakugou rushed.

"You will both be serving 3 days of detention and I want a hand written apology from each of you to give to Yaoyorozu. Also, you can each sit out from training activities in my class for a week."

"That sounds fair." Todoroki agreed while Bakugou just huffed.

"Now then, get your stuff and head to your next class." Before they exit the class Aizawa had a few more words, "Oh, and don't let this happen again." He warned.

The boys both walked on the opposite sides of the hall since their next class was in the same direction. "Don't think I didn't notice what you did back there." Bakugou growled.

"Which was?"

"Growing ice around your fists." He pointed out, "We both know using our quirks to attack without a license or if we're not in training is illegal." Todoroki rolled his eyes. "So why'd you do it? Trying to make a statement or somethin'?"

"You used your quirk too."

"Only cuz you did it first. I was willing to keep it a fair fight."

"I don't care about playing fair, Bakugou. What matters is that you win, not how you win."

The blonde boy arched his eyebrow, "When did you become so despicable?"

"Just leave me alone." Todoroki began to walk faster to get ahead. He winced when Bakugou grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him against the wall.

"First of all, walk behind me. Second, if you try picking a fight with me again I won't hold back next time."

Todoroki pushed his arm away, "You pushed me to do what I did. If you would have kept your damn mouth shut this would have never happened."

"Sure, it's all _my_ fault." Bakugou scoffed, "You've changed, Half and Half. Never thought I'd say it, but I want the old you back."

"What, ignorant?" He pulled his jacket back into place and slung his bag over his shoulder and walked off. "I'm done with following other people's rules and living by their standards."

"Even if it means hurting your friends in the process?" Bakugou called out.

Todoroki stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "You don't even like me."

Bakugou looked down and smirked, "I'll be honest. I like you a lot more than I do these other rejects we go to school with. Which is why it pisses me off that you're acting like some damn low life who thinks they're being screwed by the system when in reality they're paying for their crimes! I can't stand victims, Todoroki. And it's annoying the hell out of me that you're making yourself out to be one, when we all know you're better than that."

"You don't understand Bakugou, you weren't there. You didn't see what we went through. What he went through."

"I know that you both have the same dad and he treated you like crap but look, you're here trying to be a hero and he's out there somewhere still being a villain. That just goes to show that you choose what path you take and decide where that leads you."

"I used to think that too Bakugou. But life isn't that simple and if it was then the world would be perfect and there would be no need for heroes to save us." He paused, "You know when you were captured back there at camp, Midoriya screamed for you. You told him to stay back but with the way you looked at us you wanted us to help you. You wanted to be saved. My brother screamed for years and nobody heard him. Nobody saved him. Yeah I'm here trying to be a hero but I don't even know what I would've done if I saw my father trying to replace me over and over again. I never thought about how awful things could have been or how worse they could've gotten if I wasn't who he wanted me to be."

"Don't expect me to buy that crap. Dabi's a villain. He chose what he wanted to be."

"Tch, Why would I expect you of all people to understand? You're the most apathetic person I've ever known, right behind my father. You don't know Touya so don't talk like you do."

"I don't have to know him to find out that he was the reason a whole damn hospital had to be evacuated cuz of large flames that nearly burnt the place to the ground."

"That's exactly what I mean! You all pay attention to what the media tells you. You see the headlines, "Rogue villain escapes without a trace". But that's not what happened. You don't ever hear the whole story." He breathed heavily, "What they're making him out to be, it wasn't like that. He was looking for a way out of the madness." He stumbled backwards into the lockers and slid down, holding his head, "And he was taken from us." He folded his arms over his legs, letting his head droop down so that Bakugou couldn't see his tears.

The blonde boys head leaned back, as he groaned to himself. He was so bad at showing his support, mostly because he never did it. "C'mon, Icy-Hot." When Todoroki didn't stand up, he looked around to make sure nobody was in the halls. Bakugou sighed, "Look, I'm sorry alright. I didn't even think that deeply about it."

"That's the problem." He sniffled, "Nobody does." When he looked up, he saw Bakugou holding his hand out. After a slight hesitation, Todoroki grasped his hand and allowed Bakugou to help him up.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kick your ass."

Todoroki wiped his eyes dry, "I know not everyone will see things the way I do, and that's fine. I just wish it'd be easier for people to understand the other side of things."

"You're talking about Utopia here, Icy-Hot. It ain't ever gonna happen. Hell will freeze over by the time society 100% agrees with each other about anything." They continued walking, "Its just the way it is."

"Ever thinking about changing that?"

Bakugou side eyed his classmate, "You mean the world? Only way you're gonna get everyone to gather round and sing Kumbaya is by force."

"That's true..." Todoroki bit his bottom lip and subtlety smirked to himself. "Here's my stop." They stopped at a classroom. "Thanks Bakugou."

"Huh? For what?"

He chuckled softly, "Nothing." he said before entering his class.

Bakugou watched the door close in front of him. Something was off. This didn't sound like the Todoroki he knew. This Todoroki had an obvious chip on his shoulder, but there was something else about him that didn't sit right with Bakugou. For now he was going to push it to the back of his mind, but if he was given a reason to worry, he'd definitely set Todoroki straight.

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After school Todoroki grabbed the rest of his things from his locker. Today was quite stressful and all he wanted was to go home and rest. "Hey, Todoroki! Wait up!" A girl called out.

He turned and saw Hagakure running towards him, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she huffed trying to catch her breath. "Just wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, not too long though. I really need to get home."

"How did it go with Mr.Aizawa? He was really angry."

Todoroki shrugged, "Fine, I guess. I just feel really bad about Yaoyorozu getting hurt. Do you know if she's okay?"

"Oh yeah, she's as good as new. I heard Bakugou actually visited her in the nurses office and apologized. I thought it was really sweet."

"Hm, hope he knows he's still going to have to write out his apology like Aizawa said." He shook his head, "Anyways, is this all you wanted to talk about?"

"Uh, no actually." She slid her foot around on the floor nervously. "I actually wanted to talk about what happened before the fight. Some of us want to understand what you're going through so we could help, or at least be open minded about why you're feeling this way."

"Listen, I'm not trying to force you to see things my way."

"Even if it's the right way? Look, the way you talk about your brother, it's got people thinking. More specifically questioning the way things are. You said that he's not what everyone is saying about him. That he's different." She paused, taking a few steps closer. "And I believe you." Todoroki was shocked. He thought all of his classmates saw him as some villain apologist. "It's tough out there and we all know that in this day and age it's really easy to stereotype people. Some of us know that more than others."

The corners of Todoroki's lips slanted down in a sad frown. He knew that his family wasn't the first or only ones to go through this. It got him thinking about all the people who were wrongly accused or generalized because of the way they were born, by something they couldn't control. It saddened and angered him how he couldn't see these things right in front of him since he was one of the privileged people in the world. "Do you want to talk about this somewhere else?"

Hagakure agreed. The two walked silently to her house which wasn't too far away from the school. Talking at the dorms wasn't such a good idea, the reason being it would get more people to talk and make rumors about things that were going on. Surprise surprise, they obviously wouldn't even have the whole story straight.

Once they got to her house, Todoroki felt as if they were alone. He couldn't be too sure since her family was invisible and all. "Don't worry. It's just us." She set her bag down by the doorway. Todoroki did the same and took his shoes off before going further into the house. "Want a drink? I mostly just have orange juice and more orange juice."

"That sounds delicious."

"Brb!" She cheered before skipping into the kitchen.

Shouto sat there awkwardly and looked around her living room. It was very spacious with surprisingly a lot of family photos hanging on the wall. The irony made him chuckle. His eyes drifted to the shelves where there were trophies and medals displayed in a case. He got up to get a closer look. There was a certificate that read "Most Helpful Student" that was from her forth grade year. Multiple gold trophies were for junior high cheerleading. There was also a framed photo of junior school peer tutors and their classmates that they helped throughout the year. Hagakure was in the front, Todoroki imagined that she was smiling. He didn't realize that she enjoyed being part of school activities.

"Well that's embarrassing." She walked into the room with two full glasses of juice and handed him one. "My parents love displaying all this stuff."

"You should be proud. You seemed to be such a great student." He sat down on the couch. Hagakure joined his side.

"I guess. Don't get me wrong I loved doing all that stuff but... it didn't feel like I was doing it for my enjoyment."

Todoroki tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know it's funny. Being invisible you'd think that people wouldn't notice you, but it's the opposite. When I was growing up I was always an easy target. Something goes missing in class, it's always the invisible girls fault. Teacher can't find her wallet, all eyes are on me." By the way her clothes moved, Todoroki noticed that she was rubbing what he figured were her watery eyes. By her shaky voice it was noticeable that she was holding in her emotions as best as she could. "Always getting blamed for something you didn't do gets so tiring. I would go home in tears because everybody would tell me that being invisible meant I could get away with crimes and that people couldn't trust me. I didn't do anything to anybody and I was seen as the bad guy because of my quirk. I started to wish that one day I could see my reflection so that I could be normal."

"But that would mean you'd be part of the 20% which is the minority of the population."

"I would rather have been quirkless than invisible. At least then I wouldn't be seen as a threat. But I knew it was impossible for others to see who I really was. Which was why I tried my best to prove everyone wrong. I joined clubs to make more friends and show them that I could be somebody to confide in. I wanted to be the best in cheerleading to show that I was a hard worker. Even being a peer tutor was something I took pride in because I was able to help others and I was happy doing it. And people finally saw that."

"I'm sorry you had a rough time dealing with ignorant people, Hagakure."

"That's the thing though. I proved them all wrong but... I shouldn't have had to do all that. It was wrong for me to be judged because people chose to see me a certain way. My life was made harder than it needed to be, Todoroki."

This was awful. Someone as sweet as Hagakure was teased and generalized based on her quirk. How many others went through this? She was one of the lucky ones that found a bright path. But what about the others? The ones who gave into all of the criticism. The ones who were made to feel bad about the way they were born. Todoroki's eyes began to sting, that's when he couldn't help himself and wrapped his arms around his friend. "I'm so sorry."

"People are suffering in silence, Todoroki." She said against his shoulder, "And the ones who make noise about it wind up turning to villainy because nobody else will listen to them."

"What's the point of trying when all society does is knock you down?" He rhetorically asked.

"Exactly. It's not right. And it breaks my heart that not everybody sees that."

"We're just two people." His head hung low feeling defeated. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We're not the only ones Todoroki. There's a lot of people that think like us but they're scared to speak out because of the consequences."

"People shouldn't be pressured into believing what everyone tells them is right. So how do we get them to express how they feel?"

"Well first, they need someone who will listen." She placed her hand on his. "You listened to my story, Todoroki. And something tells me that you want to hear more from others just like me." She leaned closer, "Or from those who are like your brother."

Todoroki inhaled sharply, "I want to help them. I have to."

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-2 weeks later-

After the fight between Bakugou and Todoroki broke out, there was a lot of talk going around campus. Opinions and views being shared and debated, causing some division between family, teachers, and even the closest of friends. Some were blind to the many colors of the world and only looked through peeked hands, refusing to see the bigger picture.

Then there were those who looked at things through a lens and saw all of the problems in this painting that was society. The bleeding, muddy colors and the paint outside the lines. The things that were glanced over because they were seen as only minor, but it didn't change the fact that they existed in a so called "perfect" creation.

Things needed to be criticized in order to make changes and re create something better on a new clean canvas.

Todoroki found himself being surrounded by many new faces. They all had questions and stories of their struggle. Some had no struggle at all but they were there for someone who was in pain. Then there were those who regretted not being there for a friend when they needed them most.

His classmates on the other hand were more indifferent. They were afraid to speak out in front of the rest of their class in fear that they'd be seen in a different light. All of their opinions were kept silent. It was better to shut up than start up a riot on touchy subjects.

Todoroki sat there quietly at his desk while Aizawa went through his morning routine. His eyes kept drifting over to his phone. He discreetly slid his hand over it and brought it down to his lap and looked through his contact list, that surprisingly grew over these past few weeks. His thumb stopped at Touya's name. For days he's been wanting to reach out to his brother but wasn't sure if it was the right thing or not. What if he went back to villainy? What if he doesn't get reception because he moved to Africa? Or maybe he just wants to leave Shouto in the past. He sighed, slipping the phone into his pocket then plopped his chin on his palm.

He scrunched his face when he felt something hit his cheek. Looking down, there was a crumpled piece of paper on his desk. Todoroki turned and saw Dark Shadow giving him a thumbs up. He then opened up the note, "If you really want to start a revolution, then I want in." At the bottom of the note it was signed off by himself, Hagakure, Jirou, Kaminari, some kids from class 1B, other students who's names he didn't recognize, as well as Shinsou.

This was really happening. If people didn't want to listen, if they didn't want to understand, then they would be forced to. You can only ignore the screaming voices for so long until you finally break and give in to what they're saying.

It was beginning. The first steps towards a more idyll society and the soldiers were gathering at the front line.

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A/N: Just wanna give a shout-out to Myherogal22 and acochran5 for suggesting me some great ideas that helped me through this writers block. I really appreciated it, and it made me think more about where this story will go.


	9. New Divide

”Alright class, I'm sure you've all heard about the incident in Deika City.” Aizawa began, the story had been all over the news. How a group of 20 citizens who had a grudge against heroes falsified reports of organized crime, which drew the heroes out of the city before starting their attack. ”Now, I understand that there are mixed feelings about how the citizens rose up to protect themselves while the heroes were rushing back to the rescue.”

“Yeah, like how a bunch of untrained extras used their quirks and contributed to the freaking death toll.” Bakugou heckled.

“I kinda agree.” Asui raised her hand, “I understand protecting yourselves but all 20 of the men and women who attacked are confirmed dead. So, it’s bizarre to me how the Deika citizens are seen as heroes after murdering so many people.”

“What would you have done differently?” Tokoyami huffed, as he crossed his arms. “You can only bare a shield for so long until having to wield your sword. Those people's hands were forced. Who knows how many more people would have died if they wouldn’t have fought back.”

“Yeah, but like how many of their own got injured because of the chaos that they contributed to?” Kirishima frowned sadly, “At the same time though, it wasn’t manly at all to get rid of the towns defense because these villains were afraid to take on pros.”

Jirou shook her head, “The way I see it, this was a win for the good guys. The heroes ended up fighting alongside the Deika citizens and defeated these terrorists.”

Momo gasped, as she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Really Jirou? I didn’t think you’d condone this.”

Jirou turned around in her desk, “Look, I know that they shouldn’t have killed the villains, but things don’t always go as planned.”

“She’s right,” Kaminari agreed, “There’s also limited info that’s been released so we don’t know how dangerous they were. Maybe they kept on fighting and killing them was the only option.”

Uraraka couldn’t disagree more, “Guys, we’ve been in similar situations with villains, and not once did we kill them. You know why? Because killing no matter what is wrong.”

“True, but let’s not forget, we had heroes with us at the USJ and at Camp who all tried their hardest to protect us.” Hagakure added, “What would have happened if they weren’t there? We could all be dead right now. That’s probably what the Deika people were thinking. The heroes were gone so it was a get them before they could get us type of thing.” 

“I think the people of Deika were brave.” Aoyama spoke up, “How awful do you have to be to think up a scheme to catch innocent people off guard and plot to kill them?” 

Mina stood up out of her desk, “Umm hello! Killing people is suddenly cool and brave now? Did I miss a lesson Mr.Aizawa?” 

“I’m with Alien girl, over here.” Bakugou pointed back at her with his thumb, “Thought this was a hero academy, not a villain sanctuary.”

“Really Baku-jerk?” Jirou scoffed, throwing a wad of paper at his head, “Are we seriously debating against normal people protecting themselves rather than pointing fingers at the actual terrorists?”

“There’s nobody to point at since they’re all dead!” Bakugou shouted, “And don’t throw shit at me, lobey.”

“Or what?” She threw more trash at him, this time he dodged and swatted it out of the way with his hand. 

“Enough.” Mr.Aizawa commanded. Although his voice wasn’t loud enough to get the class's attention. 

Bakugou went around the room and slammed his fist on Jirou’s desk. “Quit your shit before I blast you all the way to hell!” He yelled in her face.

Jirou smirked as she leaned forward and held her hand up, “I’m gonna stop you right there, Dipthong. First of all, your breath smells like an old lady fart passing through an onion. Secondly, if you don’t get your hand off my desk I’m going to twist your arm behind your back and make you fist yourself.”

Bakugou’s fists shook, “I will eat your babies, bitch!”

“Why don’t you kiss my ass while you’re at it?” She shot back with clenched teeth. 

“The sexual tension intensifies.” Mineta drooled. 

“Shut it, balls for brains!” 

“Bakugou, sit back down and let Todoroki ice that great burn that Jirou gave you.” Kaminari gave her a fist bump. “Speaking of which, what do you think of this whole thing dude?” He asked.

Todoroki was strangely quiet during this time. It seemed like a lot more has been on his mind. “I think the villains had it coming. They underestimated who they were up against.” 

“Why am I not surprised?” Ojiro mumbled to himself following it up with an eye roll. 

“May I say something?” Iida spoke loudly and raised his stiff arm. Aizawa motioned his hand forward. “I personally believe that although it wasn’t right to kill the criminals, there was nothing wrong with acting out in ways to protect yourself and the ones around you. Even if they killed them, I’m sure it was in defense, not murder for the sake of murder. When the heroes arrived, yes the citizens should have been relocated to a safe area, which they weren’t. In that case, the partial blame would be on the heroes involved to make a rookie mistake.”

“That’s right!” Deku agreed, “The citizens shouldn’t be to blame. People react irrationally when they’re scared. So obviously bad stuff would go down. I also think it wasn’t wise for all the heroes to leave the city unattended. Now that I think of it, there are a lot of holes in this story.” He cupped his chin, in a thinking manner, “This was all based upon an eyewitness report, right?” 

“Would you shut the hell up?” Bakugou growled.

“Okay okay that’s enough.” Aizawa hushed, “I’ve heard everything I needed to.”

“Huh?” They all questioned. With that being said, he left the room without saying anything else.

In the hallway he met up with Vlad and Midnight. “How’d it go?” Midnight asked, “Hopefully better than my class.”

“Split down the middle for the most part.” Aizawa answered while rubbing his hand down his face.

Vlad raised an eyebrow, “You too? Hell, I thought it was only gonna be my class. Hopefully your students were more civil about it than mine.”

“Jirou nearly broke off Bakugou’s arm, so in no way was it civil.”

Midnight sighed as she slumped her shoulders, “I’m worried about these students. They seem to have so much pent up aggression after the Endeavor and Deika incidents.”

“Maybe they can relate. As their teachers, we can’t tell them that what they’re feeling is wrong.”

“Vlad, seriously?” Midnight put her hands on her hips, “What do you think about the incidents?” 

“I prefer not sharing.” 

“I agree. These kids are the future of this society and whether we like it or not, we gotta change with the times.” 

Midnight took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes, “I’m just worried about them. These kids have such bright futures and I would hate to see them throw all of that out because they want to make a statement by going against the current laws.”

“The future you talk about is already here, Shota. And in this day and age, people take action when they want change. They’ll do anything to get their voices heard. Even if it means breaking a few laws.” Vlad scratched the back of his neck as he sighed, “I need to get back to my students.” He bumped past Midnight and Aizawa as he said, “A heavy storm starts from a single drop. And I have a feeling that we’re in for a flood.”

They both looked over at each other in confusion. “How do we prepare for that?” Midnight asked Aizawa. 

“Take shelter.” He shoved his hands deep in his pockets, then began walking back to his classroom. 

Midnight stood there confused. “What the hell is this world coming to, Shota?” She called out, “A disaster? Is that what we have to look forward to?”

“That.... or” he paused before opening 1a’s door,“a rebirth.” 

:

:

:

:

“Listen you sack of shit. I’ve already said, you’re not what we’re looking for.” Dabi waved off some thug who was begging to join The League. “Plus, we don’t even go by that name anymore. We’re much bigger, more like... an army.” He smirked.

“Please! I’ve got nothing left. You’re all fighting for a cause and I want in!” He got down on his knees and clasped his hands together in a pleading manner. “I don’t fit in with this society. Same as you! So please let me in!”

Dabi curled his lip, “Don’t ever compare yourself to me. You’re out here begging on your knees and it’s embarrassing. We need people with strong wills. Not ones who who cry when someone tells them no.”

“You don’t understand my struggle, man!” 

“Oh yeah,” he kneeled down, “Enlighten me.” 

“I go everyday of my life with people thinking I’m scum cuz of my mistakes! You know what I mean, right?”

Dabi shrugged, “What did you do?”

“I.... I robbed a store and accidentally shot a kid.” He held up his hands and revealed small metal canisters on his finger tips. A gun quirk. “I got off easy with the judge, now everyone in my town hates me.” He cried.

“Hm, by accident...”

“Alright I shot him cuz I wanted his watch and the reason why I got off easy was cuz my friend knew the judge, alright.”

Dabi glared at the man. How dare he feel sorry for himself because of something he caused. There was no outside presence that cost him to be an outsider. It was his own greed and stupidity that got him to where he is. “That quirk of yours, anybody ever give you a hard time over it?” The man shook his head no. “Just used it for petty crimes and killing kids, huh?” He nodded stiffly. “Hm, like I said. You’re not what we’re looking for.” Dabi ignited his flames and was about to turn that man into ash like the others he’s done this to in the past. He loved watching the melting flesh burn as it became fuel to his flames. His hand rose up to the mans head and was about to release his fire.  Do you think killing people is the answer? Is that your way of rebelling? Dabi stopped when he heard his mother’s voice in his head. This didn’t feel right. Why couldn’t he do it? This insignificant bug could die right now and nobody would care, so what was stopping him? 

The man looked up in surprise when he realized he wasn’t dead yet. Instead of being in relief, he became angry when he saw the villain walking away. “Hey...” he called back, “Hey!” The man screamed as he pushed himself off of the wet cement. “You’re gonna act like I don’t exist now, you bastard!” He held his index finger out as his thumb stretched up, making a gun shape with his hand before firing a bullet the grazed Dabi’s ear. The man smirked when Dabi stopped and looked over his shoulder. “You coward, you’ve gone soft.” He stupidly taunted.“I’ve heard of you, Blue Flame. I know that you’re the one who’s left a trail of cremated bodies burning in blue fire. You killed all them but spared me? Why?!” He fired again but missed. “Answer me!”

“Trash like you deserves to live an insufferable life. Wanna know why? Cuz you do shit and you’re afraid of the consequences. You want someone to bail you out. How am I supposed to know you won’t bail on me or my comrades if some hero tries to arrest us?”

The man huffed, “You can trust me.” He promised. 

Dabi raised an eyebrow, “Can I?”

“Yes!” 

“I don’t think you know the meaning of the word trust. Y’see guys like you really piss me off.” His fists clenched as he walked closer to the man in front of him. “I’ve met people like you. You’d sell a friend out if it meant you’d get something in return.” The man began to back up until his heels hit the side of the building behind him. “My friend was captured by some people who wanted intel on us and they chopped off his fingers when he wouldn’t speak. And you know what we did? We fought to get him back knowing that we could all die. Would you do that for somebody?” Dabi was disgusted by this coward. The Paranormal Liberation Front were all scum in some type of way, but they would fight till the death for one of their own. “Another reason why you’re not in is cuz I really really hate liars.” He growled. His snarl made the staples in his face pull apart which drew drops of blood from his burned skin. “With shit aim like that, you really want me to believe you shot a kid? So tell me what you really did.” 

The vile piece of trash smirked as he was caught in his poorly thought out tale. “Alright, here’s the truth. I go around at night and attack women. I hold my blasters to their head and threaten to kill em if the don’t give me what I want. Sometimes I want money, jewelry, or even something better than that, if you know what I mean. Their struggle gets me off. Someone saw me attacking one chick and they had a night vision quirk and gave a detailed description of me to the police.” He explained, “I’m a wanted man just like the rest of you.”

“So, you want protection is that it? Hate to break it to yuh but we don’t work with your kind.”

“We’re all criminals fighting for the same thing.”

“No. We aren’t.” Dabi lunged and grabbed the thug by his scrawny throat, “I tried showing mercy but I’m really aching to feel your blood boil” he lifted the goon off his feet, pressing him against the wall. His palms began to get warm as he called upon his flames.  Please son, don’t do it! Dabi growled as he tried to turn on his flames but he couldn’t get his mother’s voice out of his head.  You’re not the monster they say you are. “Shut up...” he looked up and realized he was strangling the guy who’s face turned as purple as his burned skin.  _It’s not too late to change._ “Get out of my fucking head!” During his scream he finally allowed his flames to break free and char the man he was holding. But he didn’t stop there. He kept his flames on until the skin turned to ash and he was holding nothing but a skeleton between his fingers. He threw the corpse to the side, watching it hit a dumpster. He found the scene quite poetic. The trash was now where it belonged.Dabi fell to his knees and tried catching his breath. “I tried, mom. I really did.” He looked down at his hands that were now releasing smoke through his stitches. “But there’s still people who need to be purged.” 

:

:

:

:


	10. Recruitment

After the Deika incident, the League of Villains went under some major changes. Now, instead of being a small group of delinquents. They've become an army of loyal soldiers where the Lieutenant's and those under him have power and money to push their grand movement forward and change society and the world as we know it.  


The unification of the League of Villains and Meta Liberation Army was about to be the most destructive force that's ever hit Japan, and soon the world. With the formerly known LoV leader, Shigaraki going under excruciating modifications, in his time of absence he left his right hand man, Dabi in charge.  
Now Dabi didn't fully trust the stability of this newly formed alliance. But he trusted the bosses instincts, so he went forward with the plan. For right now the goal was to keep on recruiting new members until Tomura was ready for the next step into chaos.  


"Alright, listen up." Dabi stepped forward, getting the attention of everyone that met up in the base. Every official member of the once known LoV brought in people who they saw as possible fits for this organization. Now was the time to see if their instincts were on the right track. "As you've seen on TV and wherever else you get your news, you know that we're serious about our beliefs and ideologies. So if you just wanna join us so you can commit petty crimes and not have to contribute to anything, then you can get the hell out right now." He glared at the people standing in the room, some shuffled in their spot where others had their feet planted to the ground. "This is your last warning, cuz if I or any of my allies see that you're not actually what we're looking for." His eyes became dark, "We'll kill yuh."  


After that threat, about 10 people left the hidden building they had located in. Dabi shrugged it off, seeing them as not worthy to be apart of something greater than themselves.  


Toga flicked her knife open, "Anybody else? We'd hate to be wasting our time on scum."  


Nobody else moved. "Alright alright, enough with the speeches." A tall man with palish grey skin drawled out and hunched over lazily, getting down to the girls level. "Is this the part where we start gettin' to know each other?" He bit his bottom lip. Toga blushed crazily as she stared into his ruby red eyes that were partially being covered by his raven colored bangs. "The names Yoku Nagata." He reached out to touch her face, "And I can show you first hand what my quirk is, cutie."  


Dabi held his hand out, ready to release his flames. "Use your disgusting quirk on her and I fry you."  


Toga hiccuped and held her clenched fists up to her mouth. She was being pulled in by this guys gaze alone. "Wow, you're hot! I'm Toga! And honestly, I think you'd look so much sexier if you bled a little." She stuck her tongue out as she smiled.  


"Kinky. I like that."  


Dabi pulled her away from him, "Get on with it. You're not the only one here y'know."  


"Hmmmm," Yoku smirked and slyly circled his way around the man in charge. "I gotta say, I'm digging your aesthetic." He looked up at Dabi who still had flames around his hand, "We should get to know each other better too." Dabi rolled his eyes and let the fire disappear.  


"Hey wait I know this guy!" Twice pointed out excitedly. "Hey, Compress! It's the hottie from that show you watch."  


Compress removed his mask to get a better look at the young guy. He gasped in shock, "You're from season 12 of the Bachelor! You were the dreamy, sadistic one that the ladies loved."  


"A true bad boy!" Twice added. "You went by Eros though right? Wow, the chicks were always drooling over you. _They gagged!_ "  
"Oh you have no idea." He smirked.  
  
Yoku Nagata. His quirk: Lust. To activate his quirk he needs to touch you and look into your eyes, but it'll only work if you find him attractive. Then, in an instant, you become madly in love with him and obey his every command. The amount of seconds he has his hands on you determines how long you're under his charming spell. 1 second = 5 minutes. But if he ingests your DNA, then you can become seduced until he decides to deactivate his quirk. The most you can be seduced is 3 days.  
Spinner growled, "I don't like him! You e-boy looking-"  


"I don't either." Dabi agreed, "And I hate that I have to say that his quirk can unfortunately come in handy at some point."  


"Heh," Yoku interlaced his hands behind his neck. "If you need a distraction or people off your trail for a while, I'll be glad to have the X on my back." He winked.  


"Can we keep him, guys? Please please please!" Toga begged with a pout.  


"Disgusting." Another person mumbled. "I'm looking to change the world, not be apart of some polyamorous group."  
  
Gill Okinawa. His quirk: Fish. He has gills on the sides of his neck and ribs allowing him to breath under water. His quirk also allows him to withstand very cold water temperatures and can also navigate in a dark setting using electric sensors, which also helps him find things such as objects and people without the need of sight. His eyes are very sensitive to bright lights because his eyes allow him to see things using his ultraviolet vision. He also swims best in fresh water. Salt water makes him feel nauseous.  


Twice put a hand on his hip, "And why would we want to let someone in who wears sunglasses indoors, douchebag?"  


"Same reason why you'd let some psycho wear a lame Deadpool knock off costume."  


Twice clenched his fists then quickly released them, "Fair enough." He shrugged. "But seriously, what's up with the glasses?"  


"I have ultraviolet vision. Meaning I can see clearly in dark places, including deep waters. These strong sun glasses I got from the black market help me see in the light. Regular sun glasses don't cut it, so if I take them off when it's bright my eyes burn like a bitch."  


Twice ran to the opposite side of the room and flicked off the lights. "Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?"  
"2. Your middle finger and thumb to be exact."  


"Whoa! He's good. You're in!"  


"That's cool! I wanna try!" A voice yelled excitedly from the dark room. "What am I doing right now?"  


"Picking your nose." .... "Now you're doing the Macarena." ... "Do not look up that girls skirt, man."  


"Eep!" Toga felt a tug at her skirt and swung her leg, kicking the person kneeled down beside her. The lights were turned back on to reveal a smug red head on the floor.  


"Anybody tell yuh that you gotta great kick?" The guy groaned as he stood up.  
"Ugh, I should cut you

for that!"  


"Oh c'mon. I was just joking."  
  
Okada Kun. His quirk: Chaos. Code name: Mayhem. He releases a fume from his body, that when inhaled, you start losing all sense of self control and become rabid. The affect is temporary depending on how much fumes you inhale, the most you can remain rabid is about 15 minutes, if you get a small whiff it can last as little as 2 minutes. The victims attack whatever in sight unless Mayhem controls them to do otherwise.  


"You guys need to lighten up a little." He chuckled.  


"Grrrr." Toga growled, "I'll stab you!"  


"Let's go, Short Cake!" He raised his fists, "If I win you owe me somethin'. A date possibly."  


"Pfft as if." Toga wielded a blade from her garter belt and flung it in the air, catching it by the handle. Suddenly Okada fell to the floor and started grasping at his throat. "I'm not falling for that." A somewhat worried look flashed across her face when he started turning a shade of purple. "Hey? Are you alright?"  


"I hate teenage boys." A woman scoffed. After a few more seconds Okada started to gasp and cough as he was finally able to breath air back into his lungs.  


He stood up and stumbled backwards and stared at the lady standing behind him. She had messy blonde hair that was slicked back and what looked to be a gas mask on her face. "Was that you?" He pointed.  


She smirked as she pulled the mask up off her face and used it as a headband.  
  
Tyra Kiryū. Quirk: Thin. She can make any object 2 dimensional, as well as living organisms. Her special technique that she has perfected is making the air around her become as thin as possible to where her opponents can suffocate. She is not immune to this so she has a small oxygen tank and a mask that she puts on while this technique is in use.  


"Because of my special move, I've trained myself to hold my breath for at least 5 minutes while the average human can only last about 2 minutes before passing out. But since I have my oxygen tank with me at almost all times, I could thin the air around me for much longer."  


"That's cool and all, lady. But why the hell would you use your quirk on me, huh!?"  


"Simple. You were annoying me." She shrugged. "Don't know if your league can benefit from an immature dumbass like Okada but with me, I can promise results."  


"Hm." Dabi thought to himself that if they were to be surrounded by heroes and cops, nobody would even think about having oxygen masks so with her quirk a group of people would pass out or drop dead depending how long Tyra's quirk was activated for. "You're strong. But what's the range of your quirk?"  


Tyra's fingers cupped under her chin in a thinking motion. She's never really used her quirk to it's full extent before since she had no reason to. "To flatten things out, I can probably get the range of a small house. As for thinning the air, maybe smaller than that."  


"Not bad." Dabi looked over at his comrades and they each gave a nod showing that this chick was definitely somebody they could use.  


"Alright, losers! Who's next?" Twice walked around the room acting like he was the leader which received an annoyed eye roll from Dabi.  


"Uh, yeah me again." Okada raised his hand, "But is nobody gonna acknowledge the creepy old man with a freaking wolf by his side!" He waved his arms around in a panicking manner. They all turned towards the quiet man in the corner of the room who rested his hand on top of the wolves head.  


"Oh." The older man smirked as he slowly stood up out of his seat and told the massive wolf to stay still. "I'm taking it as it's my turn. I was just waiting for you children to quiet down."  


"Children!?" Toga and Okada both gasped with an offended look on their faces and began to stick their tongues out at the man. "I'm 17! Practically a grown up!" They argued with a stomp of the foot.  


"Yeah, what she said you, old geezer!"  


"Y'know what you're out!" Toga huffed.  


"Yeah, no boomers allowed!" The two teens high fived each other.  


"I'm only 34 so that makes absolutely no sense. But I wouldn't expect 2 insolent, juvenile delinquents to understand that."  


"What did you call us!?"  


Dabi gave himself a face palm. "Will you shut up!"  


"Well this guys a-!" The arguing came to a halt when the rusty metal door to the building creaked open slowly. Everybody stared and became confused when a pink haired little girl poked her head in.  


"Excuse me, is this where the meeting is?"  
________________________  
-Back at UA-  
"So Todoroki, what's next?"  


The two toned student scratched his head, "We need to get people to listen and open up their minds. I just don't know how to do that without sounding so-"  


"Pushy." Kaminari nodded, "People don't like it when you try to change the way they see things."  


"How about a rally?" Jirou suggested. "People can't ignore us. Especially when the son of Endeavor will be preaching."  


"That's a good idea." Hagakure agreed, "But we have to try to keep things as peaceful as possible. I mean, we may not agree with the system and society itself, but we're not villains either. We can't give people any fuel to speak against us."  


"Exactly." Tokoyami crossed his arms, "And if things do get ugly, it won't be because of us. We'll leave that to the people who think they know what true heroism is."  


"It's gonna be hard." Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck. "We have to prepare for the worst. People are violent and they'll want to shut us up. But no matter what they throw at us, we will not be silenced." His fist pounded the table. Todoroki wasn't just fighting against society, he was also going up against this backwards hero system that everyone puts too much faith in. The flashier the quirk the better chance you had at being a hero. It only scratched the surface of what a true hero really was. Making people feel bad about their power and making them feel unimportant and disowned was now something they wanted to bring to the light and show it as an actual problem. Shinsou has people who believed in him and ones that he wanted to prove wrong when it came to his quirk. But there are many others in the world who don't have the will power to keep fighting everyday of their life to show that they're more than their quirk, regardless of how "good" or "bad" it may seem. That's why Shinsou wanted in on this. There's people out there just like him who need to know that no matter what your quirk may be, it doesn't define who you are and that you don't fall into any type of category. "If we need to be the voice of the voiceless then dammit we will, no matter the repercussions."  


"I like the way you think, Edward Scissorhands." Kaminari gave the boy a thumbs up and a slap on the back. "Where are we gonna do this thing anyways?"  


"I was thinking in front of the school." Todoroki answered, "There's always news stations close by waiting for something to happen."  


"You mean we get to be on TV!?" Hagakure jumped, knocking her chair over. "Hurray! That'll be so exciting you guys! That means even more people can hear us!"  
"We need to do something that'll draw people in though." A student from the general studies class added, "Having a megaphone alone will be pretty lame. Remember, we're also trying to speak to kids our age and even younger, not just the grown ups."  


"You're right, Luna." Todoroki agreed. He looked around at the people around him and thought to himself how unreal this all was. He would have never imagined that there were others that thought like him. Even people outside of his class like Luna Star who was introduced to him by Shinsou. She had a fairly simple quirk. It was to project light from her body. She wanted to be a rescue hero, but the entrance exam to make it into the hero course made it nearly impossible for her to succeed since her quirk at the time could do nothing up against killer robots. Now she's been training to shape her beams of light into temporary weapons. "I need things to be perfect before we do this or else nobody will take us seriously."  


"This is hard!" Kaminari whined, "Why don't we just crash some event and hijack the damn thing? We don't have to be aggressive about it, we just have to be loud."  


"I don't know." Todoroki sighed as he scribbled ideas into his notebook. He didn't want this whole thing to paint them as wild nut cases, but he knew that they had to do something big to make their first mark in the new path of society.  


"Give it some thought, at least."  


Jirou tapped her bottom lip and shrugged, "Sparky might be onto something."  


Todoroki closed his notebook as did everyone else. "We'll pick up on this again tomorrow. Thank you all for coming."  


"Of course, Todoroki. We got your back."  


The boy smiled softly, "I'll... I mean, We." He held his hand up into a fist, "Will do whatever we can to finally make things right."  
_____________________  
"Uhhhh.... who's the kid belong to? Is she yours, pops?" Twice asked the man who was just bickering at the two teens.  


"I heard some people in the alley by my house talking and they mentioned this address." She slowly walked in and set her purple backpack by the door. "I'd like to join your group, please." She smiled cutely.  


"Pffft!" Twice laughed, "Sorry pip squeak but you have to be a certain height to join. _You're scary!_ "  


"Beat it kid, we don't want your Girl Scout cookies." Dabi coldly dismissed her. "Now then, back to-" he tried getting back to business but the little brat interrupted again.  


"I- I'm not a girl sc-"  


"Girl Scout cookies?" Okada excitedly pulled out his wallet, "How much? I hope you have those thin mints in your bag." Gill smacked him upside the head, "Ow! Why's everyone beating me today?"  


"Please." The little girl begged. "I can show you my quirk. A lot of people are scared of it." She looked down and began to shyly play with the hem of her skirt.  


Gill walked over to Dabi, "Look, just let the kid introduce herself and then turn her down after she's done." He whispered, "She's not going to leave unless you give her a chance."  


Dabi tilted his head and scoffed, "What are yuh some sorta child counselor?"  


Gill squinted at him, "I have a niece about her age, smartass. I know this'll work."  


Dabi rolled his eyes, "Ugh, fine. Hurry up, whatchyuh got, kid?"  


She shook her hands with excitement. "My names-"  


"Booooooring." Twice heckled from the crowd, " _You are so cute!_ "  


The little girl got so nervous and couldn't look up anymore. She began to speak softly as her body started to tremble, "My, my name is Tora Lee. I'm 7 years old and my quirk is called..." she shuffled around nervously where she stood and felt her face heat up, "I um, I can make uhhh," she tucked strands of her dark pink hair behind her ear, "they're like creatures." She sniffled and started to wipe her eyes, trying her best not to let it show that she was crying. "I'm sorry."  


Everyone looked at each other awkwardly. "Well." Dabi clapped his hands together, "That was fairly depressing but thanks for comin, kid. Toga walk her outside."  


"Sure thing!" Toga skipped forward and took the child by the wrist.  


Tora slapped her hand away which shocked Toga. "No!" She argued, "Let me try again."  


"Sorry child, we just do not have time for games." Compress walked up and kneeled down beside her, "How about a magic trick to turn that frown upside down, yeah?" The magician held up three marbles in between his fingers, "Then after that you'll be on your way."  


"I don't want to see a magic trick. I want to show you my quirk."  


"If crying was your quirk then I'm not impressed." Dabi turned his back on her, "Run back to school, Girl Scout. You got no business here."  


"Let's go. I'll walk you outside." Toga held the girls hand tightly this time so she wouldn't be able to pull away again. Tora began throwing a fit and screamed, pleading for these villains to give her another chance to show what she could do. "Quit squirming. It's so not cute." Toga began dragging the kid on the ground after she decided to plop to the floor in attempt to stay.  


"You guys really suck with children. You know that?" Tyra chuckled but didn't bother in assisting with the crying child.  
Dabi held his arms up to his side, "I look like a sitter to you?"  


"Let me go!" Tora shouted, this time sounding more like a deep growl. Toga quickly let go and took a few steps away from the girl. "I'm staying and I will show you what I can do." She stomped her feet as she made her way closer to the group. Tora's face was turning a shade of red due to her anger and her fists were turning white at the knuckles. Everyone stood their ground not being intimidated by this small girl. That was up until they saw something begin to manifest right beside Tora. It started off small then grew to be almost the size of Gigantomachia.  


"What the f-"  


"AHhhHhhhhHHHhh!" Okada's ear piercing shriek nearly made the building shake as he ran to the back of the room to hide. "What the hell is that thing!" He pointed.  
"Is it a Nomu?" Compress shook.  


"No way..." Dabi ignited his flames in his hand. "That's impossible."  


Tora let a sinister smirk slice across her now devilish face. Her eyes became black as night, "My names Tora Lee." She restarted in a demonic, distorted voice. "My quirk is called Beast. And this is what happens when you make me angry!" She chuckled as she sent this titan sized beast sprinting in the villains direction.  
_____________________  
-UA Dorms-  
Todoroki was doing some research on his laptop to help him think of ways for this rally that he and his friends were planning. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes while sighing loudly. He jerked his head around when there was a soft knock at his door. "Huh?" He looked at his clock that read 12:30am. "I thought everyone was asleep." He got up and opened the door, "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"  


"I uhhh... couldn't sleep." He looked to the side, "I've been really worried about you Todoroki. You've been really quiet in class and haven't been eating lunch with Iida, Uraraka and I for a few weeks now. I just wanted to make sure that everything's okay."  


"Everything's fine."  


Deku look passed the boy and into his room to see the bright screen to a laptop, a lit desk lamp and an opened notebook with wads of paper scattered around the desk, "I was afraid that I'd be waking you, but it looks like you're pretty busy. What are you working on."  


"Just a project." He partially told the truth. Deku was the worst at keeping secrets, so he thought. So he didn't want to risk his plan being leaked to people around school. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"  


Deku's presses his lips together in a wobbly line as he rubbed at his arm. "I guess not. I would say you can come to me if you need a friend, but seems as though you have plenty of those now." He forced a smile, "Just know I'm here for you, Todoroki."  


"Thank you." He bowed his head. "I should head to bed now. Thanks for stopping by."  


"No problem." Todoroki could tell that Deku still wasn't content with how this conversation went. Part of him was still worried. He opened his mouth to call him back but nothing came out. He watched Deku walk down the hall and back to his dorm. Todoroki sighed and closed his door.  


"Everything is going to be okay."  
______________________  
"Somebody do something!" Okada screamed, hiding behind the older mans wolf. "How is this damn fur ball so calm?!"  


"Don't lay a finger on Brute." The man warned.  


Dabi pulled his hands together and shot a stream of fire at the beast, but it did no damage. "Shit!"  


"Any other plans Dabi?" Toga held her knives but had no idea how the hell she'd get close enough to stab the damn thing without getting crushed in the process.  


"Tsk! Anybody got a quirk that could stop this thing?!" Dabi yelled, trying to use his flames once more but with more heat.  


Compress came forward and tossed one of his marbles to hopefully capture the beast. Like a professional magician, he made the beast disappeared. "Ah ha ha!" Compress bowed, "And that's how it's done, ladies and gentlemen." Okada clapped like a child who had just seen the greatest trick in magic history.  


Tora jerked her head and scowled at the marble. She chanted unintelligible words at the thing and in a matter of seconds her beast broke free. "Nice try." She growled. "My beasts are connected to me. Therefore they can't be tamed by anyone but me."  


Twice turned to the pretty boy to his side, "Hey Yoku, don't you have a brainwash type quirk? Brainwash the kid!"  


"Uh, my quirk is called Lust. I'm not using that on a 7 year old. What am I, some freak?"  


After Dabi temporarily stunned the beast with his burning flames, Toga jumped in front of him and threw her knives with amazing accuracy and stabbed the damn thing in its eyes. "Bullseye." She smirked. The beast yanked the blades out from its skill as blood splattered and ran straight for the blonde, "What!? How can it still see!?" Before she could react the beast was already about to make impact with the girl. "Stop!!!" She squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting her end. When she opened them, she realized that she wasn't on the floor, but in fact laying on somethings fluffy back. "The wolf?" When she looked closer she saw that it's brown eyes had changed to yellow. She turned back and saw the older man collapsed on the floor as Okada was checking to see if he was alive.  


The abnormally large wolf knocked her off its back and charged for the beast but got bench pressed and thrown to the side with easy. A yelp left the animals body as it crashed into the wall. Tyra tried focusing her quirk in one area without it affecting everyone around her. "Time for you to get flattened out." She clasped her hands together in attempt to shrink the monster. Her eyes widened in shock when it had no effect. "Why didn't it work?"  


"This damn thing is so OP!" Spinner yelled, "It's pissing me off!" The reptile complained as he got swatted away but stuck the landing safely on the wall.  


"Why isn't anything working?" Dabi shook the smoke off of his burning hands.  


Brute limped beside them. "It's not real." He spoke.  


"It talks!?" Yoku almost fainted. They all dodged when the beast charged at them again. This time knocking a few to the ground like bowling pins. "The beast... it's like it's coming from her imagination. You can't hurt an illusion!"  


Dabi winced as he tried standing up, "That means..."  


"The girl is its power source." Toga finished the sentence.  


  
Tora Lee. Her quirk: Beast. She has the ability to summon beasts who she can sometimes control with her mind. In order to determine it's strength depends on her mood. If she's happy, the beast will be smaller and rather harmless which makes it easier to control. But if she has pent up rage that she's stored, her beast can keep growing depending on her anger levels and become deadly, making it harder to control, thus it having a mind of its own.  


"We need to capture her." Gill suggested, "We need to get close enough to take her down without hurting her."  


"Or enter her mind." Brute growled before his body fell lifeless. Everyone jumped at the freaky scene. Suddenly the mans limp body jolted back to life as he gasped for air.  


"Old man I thought we lost you!" Okada wrapped his arms around him.  


"Knock it off!" His yellow eyes rolled to the back of his head, then they noticed Tora start to twitch and grasp at her head. During this, the beast fell to its knee.  


"It's getting weaker." Twice pointed out.  


"Same with the girl." Gill turned to the man who owned the wolf. "What are you doing to her?"  


  
Dire Yesai. His quirk: Warg. He has the ability to enter the minds of animals and perceive the world through their senses and even control their actions. He can also Warg humans but finds no pleasure in doing so. He prefers warging his pet wolf, Brute who he takes anywhere and everywhere. The downfall is that his physical body is left open for attacks and if it is disturbed, he gets pulled back into his own mind.  


"Gyuh!" Tora winced in pain, "Get out of my head!" She hissed, her black eyes flickering yellow. "Capture her now!" Dire screamed taking temporary control over her body. "No!" She screamed back. "Attack them!" She ordered the hurting beast who slowly began shrinking slightly in size. "I can't hold her for much longer! Hurry!"  


"Twice!" Tyra called out, "I need you to make clones of me quick!"  


The masked man quickly took her measurements and began producing clones of the blonde woman. "Done!"  


"I haven't tried this out seriously yet but hopefully it works. Do as I do!" Tyra ordered before she took a deep breath and squeezed her nose. Her body became two dimensional, the clones followed her lead. She breathed in and popped back to normal and tied the clones together to make rope. She twirled it around and captured the girl in the lasso of clones. The woman gasped when the beast grabbed her by the throat, it had shrunk immensely but it was still insanely strong. "Someone stop it!" She choked, still trying to keep her grip on the rope.  


Yoku gave Toga a boost by spinning and launching her in the direction of the beast. She dove and sliced at its ankles making it drop to its knees and cut its fingers off so that it could release the woman.  


"Compress!" Dabi shouted, "Get the girl!"  


"And for the finale!" He flipped his hat off as more blue orbs fell out of it. Compress tossed it without hesitation.  


Tora's eyes flickered from yellow back to black. Dire had lost his hold and snapped back into his human body. The beast stood up but it was too late. As soon as the marble hit Tora's feet, she was captured in its prison. Dire awoke and held his aching head. "Did we do it?"  


The League, along with the bruised recruits gathered around the marble and watched breathlessly as the beast slowly faded back into non existence.  
Compress picked up his damaged mask and put it back on his face, "Now the curtain falls."  
_____________________  
A/N: speacial thanks to @DestinyBuffaloFuente for letting me use her OC Luna in this story. And @CJRegina that "voice of the voiceless" thing was for you.  
Also, what do you think of the new characters along with Tora Lee and her quirk? And why *does* she want to join the villains side? Hmmmm....


	11. Truth and Lies

A/N: special thanks to TerraZeal for letting me use her OC. I loved the reference and just had to insert him into this story. Her character is the one with a * by his name.  
__________________  
The newly formed League tended to their wounds. They were all shocked at the power of this young child. This new generation had quirks that were amazing and they'd only be getting more dangerous as time went on. 

Dabi held the marble in his hand that contained Tora. He contemplated what to do next. Should they drop it off somewhere so this kid doesn't get mixed up with them? Should they use her power to further their plan? Also, why the hell would she want to join them? 

Dire took a seat next to the burned villain, who scooted away from him to get some distance. "The child was powerful." Dabi didn't respond to that obvious statement. "You know, after you revealed your identity to the world, it truly did change the way people think." Dabi shifted his eyes over at the man, not knowing what he was getting at. "And what you all had to do with Deika and the talk of quirks being legalized for everyone is something that more people are starting to agree on."

"Listen old man, I ain't interested in small talk. I got a group to lead while the Boss is out."

Dire chuckled, "Forgive me for intruding, but after everything you've been through. Has anything changed? Like how you view the world or your choices?"

Dabi curled his lip in annoyance, "That's none of your damn business. You're lucky you have a useful quirk or else I would have lit your ass up along with your ugly wolf." Brute growled at the mans insult. Dabi looked the man up and down, not understanding why he was interested in joining this organization. By the Rolex watch on his wrist, and the tailor made suit, this guy seemed to be living comfortably. "So what's your deal? Why does a guy like you wanna join people like us?"

Dire leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. In one of the compartments was a picture of him and 2 little kids. "My children." Dabi turned his head to glance at the photo. "My son, Shoyo and his big sister Tsuka."

"They got the same quirk as you?"

"Similar. Shoyo's quirk is called After Death. It allows him to see into the life of a creature if he touches its bones, even if it's fossilized." Dabi was kind of impressed. "He wants to travel the world and discover "the unknown". But he won't be able to do that since he's not a hero, so his blessing of a quirk will go to waste. I want my son to live his dream and not be held down by the shackles of oppression."

"And the girl?"

Dire looked back down at the picture, running a thumb over the face of his daughter. "She's adopted. When I was living in America, years ago. My wife and I wanted a child so we decided to adopt. When we came across Tsuka, we were heartbroken for the girl. She came from an abusive household, surrounded by nothing but negativity. Then we read that the girl's quirk manifested and her house crumbled down, killing her family inside leaving only her."

"What quirk does that?"

"Evil Embodiment. We learned that her quirk allows her to manipulate anything evil. Whether it be a person, place or an event. She has the ability to make the mayhem more powerful and she becomes a force of nature. That house she lived in was a hell on earth so she lost control and brought it down to pieces."

Dire had tears forming in his eyes as he talked about his step daughter, while Brute ran his head against his masters leg. With the way the world is, he feared for her and wanted to give her a second chance at life. He and his wife wanted to fill Tsuka's heart with love and positivity, and to never know pain again. Dabi could respect that. "You want her to be able to live freely."

Dire nodded, "When we adopted her we changed her name to Tsuka, because we didn't want anybody to find out about her past or her quirk. We don't want her to be ashamed because we know it doesn't make her a bad person and that it could easily be used for good, but Tsuka wants to be quirkless and finding ways to suppress her quirk isn't enough anymore considering how strong it's getting." Dire stood up, "That's why I'm here." 

"Oh, I get it now." Dabi shoved his hands in his pockets, along with the marble he was holding. "You heard about what we have, right?" His eyes glanced down at the ink on Dire's forearm that was partially covered by his tattered shirt. It looked familiar. Dabi snapped his fingers, sending a small flame to slowly burn the sleeve up to Dire's elbow to see this tattoo he was hiding. It was a symbol that he and the League knew all too well. "Shie Hassaikai." 

Dire slapped at the dwindling flames and calmed down Brute who was ready to attack. "Chisaki Kai is in prison, and being apart of one of the closer charters to the young Yakuza, I knew what he was planning. Being a father of an orphan myself, I found what he was doing to be very immoral, but I needed to get my hands on that finished product." Dire glared at the corpse faced man, "I need one of those bullets. And I know you have them."

"I don't know, Pops. Shooting your kid doesn't sound very fatherly."

Dire gritted his teeth, "A small price to pay to grant my child's wish. If you brats would have stayed out of our way, then Chisaki would have been able to grant me a harmless vaccine that would have cured Tsuka like he promised. But now, if I have to shoot her in the foot to make that happen, then so be it." 

The stare down got interrupted by Toga, "Hey, so have you decided what we're gonna do with Tora?" 

"Compress, let her out." He ordered.   
_________________________  
"I have the perfect spot." Luna caught the attention of Todoroki's group. "What about we do this in front of the Hero Public Safety Commissions building? Since your brother came clean, plenty of people began to protest there about different issues in the hero system. We should do the same." 

"That's a really good idea." Hagakure agreed then looked over at Todoroki who seemed to like the idea as well. "Good thinking Luna."

"Hey guys," a boy called for their attention, "Speaking of the Safety Commission, did you guys know that they have a program for child prodigies?" He continued to scroll on his laptop, "Apparently they take in children with amazing quirks and train them to be heroes." 

"That's amazing!" Kaminari jumped, "Could you imagine being that great that being a pro is already set in stone?" 

Jirou shook her head, "It may seem like that on the surface." She looked over the students shoulder at his screen. "But when you think deeper about it, they're really making child soldiers."

"Exactly."

Todoroki jerked his head around. He has heard of this program before. "Wait, I know what you're talking about. When the SC found out that I had an Ice and Fire quirk, they wanted my father to turn me over so they could train me instead. My mother was against it and my father mainly refused because he was so prideful and wanted to train me himself." He thought back farther to before his quirk manifested. This had happened before. Todoroki vaguely remembered this happening with Touya and how they told his father that the training was vigorous but the results would be phenomenal. But again, Endeavor refused. He wanted to be the one to train his first born. "Sam, look more into that program."

"You got it." 

*Sam Winchester. Exchange student from America. Second year in the Support Course. His quirk: Read. He can read/understand any language, including computer language and body language. Sam's more into creating spy wear and hacking equipment. Also, since he can read someone's body movements no matter their speed, it makes him exceptional when it comes to defense skills. 

"A theory is that some of these prodigies don't even become actual heroes, but the SC uses them as spies and to basically do suicide missions." He continued to type and dive further into this program. "There's an article here but a lot of information has been blacked out. From what I can read 2 siblings with a pro hero father, were put into the program and something happened that they went crazy and managed to escape." 

"Okay that's scary." Hagakure bit her nails, hiding behind Tokoyami. 

Sam closed his laptop, not being able to look at it any longer. "The government is literally taking little kids and brainwashing them to obey their every command for the "greater good" of society. Why aren't more people talking about this?" 

"Because we're blinded by the lights of heroism, that we've been conditioned not to care where they came from." Luna answered bluntly. "I didn't realize how messed up this stuff was until now. It's sad how people aren't aware of all this." 

"That's why society has us." Todoroki stood tall, "We'll force them to look and to hear our voices. We won't be shut out."  
_________________________  
"Lemme get this straight. So you were being forced drugs that were suppressing your quirk?" Twice shook his head in disbelief, "I may be a villain but holy crap that's evil." 

Tora shared the rest of her story to The League about how she accidentally hurt a classmate with her quirk at school and a week later she felt her quirk start to slowly diminish. The school nurse would give her pills, saying it was a medicine that her parents had provided. But when Tora brought it up to her parents they were confused. Then a day later, they changed the story and said that she had to take them so that she could "feel better". 

"This doesn't make sense." Yoku shook his head, not being able to fathom what this kid was telling them.

"It's true!" She shouted.

Okada jumped, clearly afraid of the kid. "We're not saying you're lying. We promise!"

"Yeah." Yoku assured, "What did they mean that the meds were going to make you feel better?"

"They said it was to help me control my quirk. But it made it hard to be able to use it anymore when I started eating the pills. Then after I made myself throw them up, I was able to make my little beasts again." She explained, holding onto Dire's hand who was comforting her. 

Dabi looked on in disgust. "Tell me, Dire. You know about this?"

Dire clenched his jaw, "What are you implying?" 

"You're with the Shie Hassaikai. Overhaul wanted to get rid of quirks, so this seems like something that you jackasses would be involved in." 

Dire didn't like how Dabi was accusing him of such a vile act. "Since Chisaki's imprisonment, we got out of the drug business. And at that, there's no way we'd waste our time creating pills when weapons is where the money and the best results are at."

Toga crossed her arms and stood beside her comrade, "Well this seems like a weapon to be used against "villainous" quirks if you ask me." She whipped out her knife, "Something you're not telling us, Pops?" 

Gill led the little girl away from Dire so that Dabi and Toga could interrogate him. "I'm not hiding anything." 

"We don't believe you." 

Dire looked at Brute and was about to Warg the animal. Compress noticed this and acted quickly, capturing the wolf in a marble. Twice made clones of himself and used them to restrain Dire from fighting back and escaping. 

"Earlier." Dabi stalked forward, "You told me that suppressing your daughters powers wasn't gonna cut it anymore. You were giving her those pills weren't you?" Dire held his own and refused to talk. Dabi motioned for Toga to step in. She stabbed Dire in the shoulder, twisting her knife in the wound, making the man scream out. "Tell us where you got those drugs." Dire still wasn't talking. "Tyra. Do your thing." Everybody stepped away from the blonde woman. She put her oxygen mask on and activated her quirk. The air around Dire slowly began to get thinner and thinner, making it impossible for him to breath. When he turned a light shade of blue, Tyra released her quirk. Dire gasped and choked when air re entered his lungs. "We can do this all day." Dabi threatened. 

"Fine. I'll tell you." Dire heaved, still trying to catch his breath. "Before Chisaki created the bullets, faze 1 was pills to make sure they worked since bullets are expensive to make and there's no point in wasting money on duds. My charter funded his plan up until the bullets were ready to sell, but we never got to that point with the final product. We tested the pills on random thugs who were desperate for money. After each dose we saw the strength in their quirk start to diminish. I took some for myself to help my daughter. The last time I met up with Chisaki, there were about a hundred vials that had pills in them, but we already moved onto making bullets. I don't know where the rest of the drugs ended up." he looked down in shame, "I promise. That's all I know."

"The heroes invaded where Overhaul was staying, right?" Okada tapped his chin, "Maybe they took the pills for themselves and were secretly giving them to people to control their quirks." 

"Wow." Tyra put her hands on her hips, "There's actually a brain between those ears." 

"It's the only explanation." Dire agreed, "If those pills are still out on the streets, it has nothing to do with the Yakuza." 

"This is some bull-" Gill bent down and covered Tora's ears. "This is some bullshit. Is the government really targeting people with "villainous" quirks? Cuz that's discrimination if I've ever seen it. How long do you have to be taking this drug for your quirk to be eradicated?"

"I don't know. My daughters been taking them for a year. Her quirk is still there but can't be used to it's full strength." 

"This systems more fucked up than we thought..."


	12. Fighting For...

"Morning dad."

"Morning, Tsuka." Dire greeted his daughter who was on the couch eating a bowl of cereal and flipping through the channels. He looked up from his phone when he realized it was a Tuesday. "Why aren't you at school?"

"I thought mom told you." The teen answered lazily, still staring at the tv. "I got suspended yesterday."

Dire cocked his head to the side, "Huh? What for?"

Tsuka walked her dishes over to the sink and leaned against the counter, "Y'know, same old shit."

"Language."

She sighed, "Some girl stole my idea for a science project we had coming up and I confronted her about it. Then she lied and told the teacher that I threatened to send a hit out on her." Tsuka scoffed, restraining herself from balling up a fist, "Hard to explain that one away when you're the daughter of a Yakuza."

Dire scrapped his hand through his hair. "Sorry you have to deal with all of this." School was tough for Tsuka. Always getting teased for being "quirkless" which was just a cover up for her sake. Not to mention the asshole kids who just wanted to be her friend because her family had money. Tsuka didn't have people her age who she trusted. Mere Yakuza was all she had. At least the ones she knew had some type of honor rooted into them.

Everyone was just so mean and worried about themselves, they couldn't give a damn about the people around them and what they were going through. It was always about who's the strongest, the most popular, the one with the flashiest quirk. It was all so irritating and it took everything in her power to contain her quirk from being unleashed in these negative settings. The pills were working but Tsuka's quirk was also emotion based. If she was angry or sad, her quirk would slowly start to release. The last time it happened was when some moron was shooting spit balls in her general direction and she got so annoyed by it that the classroom windows began to explode.

"It's whatever, honestly." Tsuka reached into the cabinet and pulled out an orange vile, "I upped my dosage to 3 pills a day."

When Tsuka was younger, Dire had taken her to the Shie Hassaikai base to meet with Overhaul. He was the smartest man that Dire knew, and was certain that this family secret would stay between them. That's where some tests were ran and it was discovered that if Tsuka didn't release the energy to her quirk every so often, that she'd have trouble controlling it and she'd begin to lash out as a result.

"It's getting harder to control, isn't it?"

She plopped back down on the couch and rested her head against the armrest, "It sucks dad. I just want to be a quirkless teenager without having to deal with all of this." The teasing was something Tsuka could handle, but the way her mental health suffered was taking a tole due to her power. "I didn't ask for a quirk that would turn me into a monster if I don't use it. And I didn't ask for a quirk that would hurt people either."

Dire knelt by his daughters side and wiped a tear away, "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm doing everything I can to make sure you won't hurt anymore." He took her hand in his and squeezed tightly, "I want you to feel safe in your own skin and I'll make sure that you do. I promise."

"Thank you, dad." She sniffled, "Move aside now. There's a cute boy on tv." Dire chuckled and sat with her. Tsuka squinted and sat forward when some of the faces on the screen looked familiar. "Hey, aren't those some of the UA kids from the sports festival?"

"Yeah it is. The hell are they doing at the Hero Commission HQ?" They both sat in silence watching as the students protested against the injustice and unfairness in society. "Holy shit, they're really serious about this."

"Good! People have to learn that there's no such thing as an evil quirk." Dire looked over at his daughter who's attention was glued to the TV. Rightfully so. Was the world finally going to shift in a different direction?

* * *

-H.C Headquarters-

"Just because we live in a super powered world doesn't mean anything. Men are still not created equal. We're categorized by how powerful we are and how we can benefit society. Much like how before quirks we were classed by how much money we had, our popularity, and sometimes even by the color of our skin. Individuals with "mutant" based quirks still get attacked on the streets but do we do anything about it? Do we hear about it on the news? No! Wanna know why? As crazy as it may sound, heroes can't keep everyone safe because they don't care about everyone. We don't have a real symbol of peace anymore. We don't have heroes that'll save people while wearing a smile on their face. We have some heroes that save people so their ranks can go up in the system."

Shouto placed his hand on Tokoyami's shoulder. He knew it was hard for him to get this off his chest. There were minorities of people who were looked down upon because of how they looked when they were born. Tokoyami was one of those victims. Till this day, there were individuals who would look at him and see how he looked part human and part not, and they would whisper things to each other. He learned to brush it off because once he became a hero all those cruel, quiet words that people spoke will have to be swallowed when he proved that he was worthy of something more than this "mutant" label that was tagged onto him when he was born. He promised himself that with the power of darkness he would manage to bring light to these situations and help people just like him. It was just a shame that nobody would be forced to care until now.

"That was great, Tokoyami." Todoroki whispered to him as he took the stage. "So what does this say about us? What does this say about heroes and the hero system?"

A teen girl raised her hand, "That there's clearly a bias favoring certain types of people in the hero system."

"Exactly. And what else?"

This time a young adult who had a reptile quirk, similar to Spinner's raised his hand. "How not only are some heroes not trying to protect certain groups of people, but that the media refuses to cover these incidents because it's bad publicity since we technically chose who our heroes are and contribute to their success."

"Correct. Some of us may refuse to believe this because we've put so much faith in something and have been conditioned to see this system as our only hope of protection. But what do we do if we found out that it was all a lie? What do we do if we found out that in reality we were being used? Our powers being used for the so called "greater good" of society when in fact it's illegal for us to use our quirks in public freely. How does this all make sense? How is this fair? We have to give ourselves up to the higher ups of the government just so we can use something that's apart of us." Todoroki balled his hand in a fist but quickly had to regain his composure when there were soft murmurs trickling through the crowd.

Jirou stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Let me explain in simpler terms what Todoroki is trying to say for those of you that seem confused. Imagine being able to run really fast. Faster than anybody in the world, but some people don't like that because you seem too "elite" and get shunned because of it. So, in result, they take your leg for themselves and say, you're forced to live your life like this. But here, have this crutch. A piece of you was just taken away because you had this special ability that threatened others. So you go back to them and beg for your leg back until they agree to compromise. You can have it back under one condition, you have to sell yourself to them. Your own special ability that you were born with will once again be apart of you, only if you agree to run how fast they want you to. And once you do, this special ability doesn't seem so threatening after all now that it's in the control of someone else."

Shinsou stood beside Jirou's side. His cool demeanor gained the attention of the audience. He had gained a bit of a following after the Sports Festival so people were really intrigued about what he has to say about this. "In the very beginning when this all went down, we didn't have shackles holding us in place. We used our gifts freely and yes, sometimes even irresponsibly. Laws are there for a reason, but somewhere along the line someone decided to treat everyone with a quirk like criminals unless they agreed to all of these new laws in order for us to feel small and oppressed. Then that's when labels like villain and hero hovered over our heads. We made up this story how these laws were placed to keep us safe and we agreed to tell this story for generations until we forgot that it was all a lie."

The crowd separated when a man wearing a Captain Celebrity shirt that barely covered his bulging beer gut, shoved his way through everyone to confront the students. (If you haven't read MHA: Vigilantes C.C is an American hero who was relocated to Japan for hero work after he found himself in the middle of numerous amounts of scandals and lawsuits. He's basically a self centered womanizer who has his own theme music playing while he fights crime and is very selective when it comes to saving people. He usually only saves hot women and sometimes other people when the medias around.)

"What makes you think we're gonna listen and sympathize with a bunch of punks like you?" He drunkly argued, while a few officers stretched their arms out to not allow him any closer to the students. "You're all gonna grow up and be able to use your quirks as you please so why do you care?"

"Because, dude! We're standing up for people who don't have a platform like us! Kids now are made to feel ashamed of what they were blessed with if it doesn't align with the worlds standards!" Kaminari argued back, "It's not fair."

The man scoffed, "Life's not fair, kid. Get used to it."

Luna then jumped in to defend her friends and their cause. "Yeah well we can try our best to get close to fairness. All we ask is for everyone to be able to embrace our quirks and not feel bad about them and to not hide because you're ashamed of it. This isn't just about heroes, it's about everyone! Including the 20% who don't have any type of quirk! Because even though the world makes them not feel like it, they matter too and their lives are important!"

"We all chose to believe this story." Todoroki spoke up once again, "Now its time for us to close the book and write our own."

Another angry member in the crowd shouted, "So what do you expect us to do? Abandon this so called lie? Then what do have left, huh? I'll tell you what, chaos! A fucking dark pit of chaos that'll swallow us all." People around agreed and began arguing with those who didn't. Any other day this would have been seen as concerning. But on this day, it was seen as a wake up call.

Todoroki looked down then back up at the crowd and smirked, "That's where you're wrong. Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder." *

"We won't allow people to hide in the shadows any longer. We ask them to come out and make their voices heard." Tokoyami stood proud.

"You want quirks to be freely used, huh!?" The drunk man shoved his way past the officers who were trying to calm down the crowd, "Then take this!" He released a dark green goop from his palm and splashed it towards Todoroki. Before the student could react, the acid had splattered on Todoroki's face. He fell to his knees and clutched at his eyes as he screamed, burning one of his hands in the process.

"Todoroki!" Another one of his loyal comrades ran to his aid and used her water quirk to rinse out his eyes. Meanwhile, Tokoyami summoned Dark shadow to shield his friends who stood behind him. "Are you alright? Can you see?" She asked worriedly.

Shouto slowly lifted his head up as his eyes burned with hatred but the sinister grin carved across his face said otherwise. "That's right. Fall for the bait." He growled. "Tokoyami! That's enough. Let's get out of here." Another member with a teleportation quirk used their power to relocate the students somewhere safe.

Hagakure looked around, "My house?"

"Sorry! It's all I could think of."

"Are you okay, Todoroki?" Jirou asked when she saw him still holding the left side of his face.

"Yeah that guy got you good." Kaminari commented, which earned him an elbow to the ribs by Shinsou. "Ow!"

"Let us see. If it's really bad, we'll take you to Recovery Girl so she can hopefully heal you."

"No." Todoroki huffed, shakily bringing his left hand down to his side. "I'm fine." He peered up at everyone through his blurry vision. They gasped when the scar on the left side of his face appeared bigger. Now, instead of it circling only around his eye, due to the acid, it had grew larger as it now spread down his face, resembling a claw mark. "We did great out there. Now people are talking."

"But you got hurt, man." Kaminari placed his hand on his friends shoulder, "You still wanna do this?"

"I'm not going to get scared out of fighting for what's right and you guys shouldn't either! If you want to back out now, that's fine. I won't force you to stay. But if you choose to still walk with me, I'll be grateful." 

Everyone looked at each other and nodded, "We're with you."

* * *

-Hideout-

"Oh my gosh! I hope your brothers cute face is okay!" Toga held her hands up to her cheeks. She jumped when she heard a loud pound against the wall along with debris hitting the floor. Turning around, she saw that Dabi had punched a hole through it.

"That damn idiot." He growled, "The hell was he thinking!?"

"Didn't think those UA kids would see things our way." Compress commented.

"Nah, they're bein stupid." Dabi clenched his teeth, steam fizzing out from the cuts in his face, "Nobody's gonna listen to a bunch of brats. They're wasting their breath. Especially Shouto. Morons gonna get himself killed."

"Awww Dabi." Toga skipped over to him, "Sounds to me like you're worried about your baby brother."

He scoffed, "Shut up, psycho girl. I'm pissed cuz he has no idea what the hell he's doing."

"Then let him join us." Toga suggested, pressing the pad of her finger against the tip of her knife, "He'd be safe."

"Not to mention if we recruited his classmates, it would really have heads turning." Tyrā leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, "They may just be students, but after this stunt. More people will follow them. Meaning our organization grows and everyone will see that there's no such thing as being truly good or evil."

"Forget it. That's not gonna happen." Dabi irritatedly dismissed the outlandish comments.

Gill put his arm on Dabi's shoulder, turning the man around to face him, "We need to capitalize on this, Dabi. I get that he's your brother, but you gotta put your emotions to the side and see the bigger picture. This isn't about us anymore. This is about the world and what it can become."

Dabi roughly pulled Gill's hand away, throwing it to the side. "You don't get to tell me shit. While Shigaraki is away, I'm in charge and I say leave my brother out of it."

"Maybe you aren't fit to lead us then." Tyrā added, "You're clearly blinded by your family bonds, that you lost sight of what's important."

Dabi narrowed his eyes at the woman who spoke to him as if they were equals. None of these new recruits knew shit, so they had no place to give their input. "Careful now, remember who you're talking to."

"Oh yeah," Yoku circled around Dabi, brushing up against his arm and then lowering his head down to the crook of Dabi's neck, making the man tilt away, "Son of Endeavor." He cooed. "Former golden boy who was replaced time and time again because he simply wasn't good enough." Yoku taunted with a smirk, knowing he was getting under Dabi's skin by the way his body stiffened. "What a shame it would be if that were to happen again, right? Getting voted out of your position at a time like this would definitely blow." He lifted a finger, running it against the staples lined across Dabi's cheek.

Yoku's hand was slapped away by Dabi who was now holding flames in his palm, "Touch me again and you burn."

"Threatening or promising me, Mr.Leader?" Yoku chuckled, stretching his arms out as an invite to fight. "Let's see what you got."

"Lookin to die tonight, pretty boy?"

"So hot!" Toga squealed. "Go Dabi! Go Yoku! I can't choose!"

"Don't worry babe, I'll make sure you're not disappointed with the show." he winked at the blonde.

"C'mon Dabi! End that e-boy!" Spinner shouted with a raised fist.

"Oh I can't watch this!" Twice covered his eyes but began to peek through the gaps between his fingers. "Let's go!"

The group began shouting and instigating the two men to fight. Sometimes throwing a few fists and watching a brawl go down is what you needed to do in order for the tension to subside.

Dabi tackled Yoku to the ground holding both wrists between his hands, above the mans head. He continued to punch until blood laced his scabbed knuckles. "Not so tough now!" Dabi opened up his palm, wearing his flames like a glove and went to take ahold of Yoku's face, until he was kicked off and grasped by the wrist. Dabi's breath got stuck in his throat when he felt himself start to lose control of his own body.

"My turn." Yoku simpered, blood spilling out from the corners of his mouth. "Get off of me." He ordered as his quirk activated. Dabi obeyed and stood up like he was told.

Okada raised his eyebrow and whispered to Gill, "Hey I thought his quirk only activated if you think he's hot."

Gill shrugged, "I mean, he's a good looking guy. I'm not gay but like-"

"I'd do him." Okada shamelessly admitted, receiving several nods from the group. Yoku curled his lip up into a cocky smile and brushed his messy hair back. Blood from his nose dripped down onto his chest, mixing in with his sweat as it ran down his chiseled body, painting him red. "Scratch that, I'd let him do me."

"Time to get serious." Yoku lowered his voice, "I want you to admit why you don't want to join forces with your brothers group."

Dabi's teal eyes dilated into dark orbs as he was being controlled, "He's trying to follow in my footsteps." He admitted against his will, "I nearly died fighting for this cause and killing Shouto in the process. I can't do that again."

"You're pushing him away. That's why you ignored all of his calls after Deika. You're afraid that he's going to turn into you."

"He thinks he knows who I am. Shouto still believes that I'm Touya." Dabi's words trembled as he was forced to speak his thoughts that he didn't want to believe. "I'm not him. I had the chance to be better but I cremated that bridge. Shouto can't do the same."

"And why not?" Yoku tilted his head, "We're going to shake the world. And with his help-"

"He's going to break it! Society is already crumbling and I can't watch my brother go down with them!"

Yoku shook his head, scoffing under his breath. "What's a life to you, Dabi? Huh? Your body count is more than ours combined. We knew what we signed up for when we agreed to join The Paranormal Liberation Front. Bodies would drop. We can't have peace without war." He paused, feeling disgusted with what his so called leader was owning up to. "We're all fighting for our lives here. Not just you." Yoku spat, "We're all fighting for people we love too! Me, Dire, Gill, all of us!" He screamed, "Fuck, even that little Girl Scout! How could you be so selfish and try to stop us from making things right!"

"That's enough!" Twice finally intervened after hearing someone who is like a brother to him, being torn down. He wasn't sure if he stopped this because he was trying to protect Dabi, or because he could no longer bare listening to him basically going against everything he once believed in. Dabi always used to mention "dying for the cause." But ever since he revealed himself as Touya Todoroki, he noticed that Dabi was beginning to change into someone who resembled more of a stranger than a comrade. "Turn off your quirk, Yoku. It's not fair to make him say this shit!"

"Doesn't matter if its fair or not, Twice." Tyra huffed, "He certainly meant it all."

"I don't give a crap!" Twice defended, "Dabi has been with The League since the beginning! I know where his values truly lie. Don't try and get things twisted." He looked over at Toga who was shockingly quiet for once, "Himiko? C'mon, you still believe in our ol Dabs right?"

"I don't know, Jin." She looked between her old comrades and the new, her heart being tugged in both directions. "I don't like what's happening to us. What would Tomura say?"

"He'd tell us to focus on what's important and to destroy the ones holding us down." Spinner walked over to Twice and Dabi, "Stain yearned for a world where we had true heroes, and one where there was no unnecessary violence and blood shed." He looked up with a sad frown, "In this case, we're doing what needs to be done. I'm sorry you guys but, I agree with the E-boy. We can't stop now. Not when things are finally moving forward as we wanted."

"Even your own agrees with us." Yoku held his hand up, swiping it slowly across Dabi's eyes. Releasing the brainwash affect of his quirk. Dabi looked around feeling completely distraught. "Tch, and you call yourself a leader."

"Hey!" Toga flung her knife out, "We brought you into this group and we can kick you out!"

"Open your eyes Space Buns, you're not the minority anymore. And Dabi here is trying to go against us now."

Dabi ripped away from Twice who had his hands on his shoulders. He pointed about to say something back but no words came up. His jaw unclenched, eyes slowly opening up from a narrowed squint. He was speechless. Who could blame him after all the thoughts and feelings he just spilled. Dabi admitted to himself as well as everybody else that he wasn't as cold as he was leading them on to believe. "Don't... don't ever do that to me again." He warned, his voice so soft and unthreatening. Like he was saying stop to someone who played a cruel joke on him.

"Dabi..." Compress called back as he watched the man exiting the room, "Where are you going?"

"To get some air. Don't bother following me."

Yoku scowled at the man who once promised to roast him alive for flirting with Toga, who know walked away with his tail between his legs. "How sad. I kinda liked him at one point. Up until I found out that he was nothing more than a pu-"

Toga charged forward and slapped the hotness off the mans face, "If you say anything else about Dabi I will skin you alive. There's nothing I like more than hearing a defenseless boy scream."

"Heh," Yoku rubbed his face that began to blister up, "Alright I'm sorry. I went too far." He held his hands up in surrender. "Can't say I fully regret it though."

"You're a jerk." She spun on her heels, "Oh and put a shirt on. Nobody wants to see your abs cuz you're not even cute anymore."

Okada jogged up behind her, "Don't worry, Toga. I'm still here for you, my darling!"

Yoku rolled his eyes and hunched over, sauntering over to the exit doors. "Air huh? Pft, yeah right."

.

.

.

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* * *

A/N: wow it's been too long! A lot went on in this chapter and yes, I used the Chaos is a Ladder line from GoT (I was watching it while I was writing that scene) but I hope you guys enjoyed. Also, imma be honest idk when I'll update again cuz writers block kicks my ass. If you have any ideas or suggestions for me, drop them in the comments or DM me :)

PS: with everything going on in the world I hope you guys stay safe and healthy. Also, be kind to one another. 💜

Happy Pride Month and #BLM✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿


	13. Mercy

Since the altercation with Yoku, Dabi had become more distant with his comrades. As if he wasn’t like that already. He went from sometimes showing up to meetings, to now getting a quick text from Twice or Toga updating him on their next move, or if they had any new recruits and running it by him before letting them join. Dabi just started replying with simple “whatevers” as the days went on. His focus on the League blurred out into background scenery, the phone calls from them was white noise, their goals had become nothing more than dreams lost in the sea of impossible wishes.

“What are y-“ Endeavor cleared his throat, “I wasn’t expecting you.” Dabi wore a scowl on his face as he met eyes with his father. Endeavor scratched the back of his neck not knowing where to go from here.

“Not even gonna ask how I found your new house, huh?”

Endeavor snapped himself back into things and looked back in the house, seeing many boxes that still needed to be unpacked. “Oh, well I’m sure you have your ways.”

Dabi rolled his eyes following it up with a scoff. “Listen, coming here is the last thing I wanted to do.”

“So why did you?” Endeavor asked coldly. “If you’re here to ask about Shouto, I don’t have any answers for you. Your brother hates me as much as you do.” He paused, looking up and down at the disguised man in the tattered hoodie. “Dabi.”

For a split second, Dabi could have sworn his father just called him- no that can’t be right, he thought. There’s no way. That wasn’t his real- well yes it was. But he couldn’t decide if- yet he made up his mind. “Hold on. Are you messing with me right now?”

“What? That is your name now, right?”

“Yeah but-“

“Then what’s the problem?”

Dabi clenched his jaw and exhaled harshly as his fists shook, “Who do you think you are?” There was a long list of things that Dabi hated, and one of those things was being patronized. Especially coming from his father of all people. “You’re still a piece of shit father regardless of what you owned up to, so don’t stand there and think you get to look down on me!”

“You chose your path!” Endeavor shouted back, “Me, Shouto, your mother, we all tried getting you to make the right choice but you didn’t.”

“You don’t get to tell me what’s right and wrong!” Dabi argued, “You lost that privilege a long time ago!”

Endeavor crossed his arms, “You’re right. I’m not your father. My son burned in flames years ago. He’s been dead for a long time and I lived with a shrine of him in my house to remind me of it.” He lowered his head down to meet eyes with the man on his doorstep, “His name was Touya.”

There was something about someone else saying that Touya Todoroki was dead that messed with Dabi’s head. When he said it, it was like having a sense of power and a new found persona. When his own father said it, it felt like he was being abandoned and forgotten all over again. There was no way he’d ever long for the affection of Enji now, but knowing that he came to terms on the situation and who his not-so-son decided to be, Dabi felt like he lost total control of the very thing he brought to the light. The truth.

People always say there’s three truths. Your truth. The other persons truth. And the actual truth. Dabi wanted his truth to be the only one that existed. In a perfect world where things weren’t too complex, he would be in the right. Unfortunately, nothings that simple.

Dabi stared on blankly. Then he realized, he really did lose full control of the situation. He went from being the puppet master to just a mere onlooker in the crowd. This couldn’t be happening.

“So that’s it?” Dabi swallowed the lump in his throat and scoffed to make it seem as if he wasn’t hurting. “Just gonna shrug me off and leave me in the past along with the rest of your mistakes, huh?”

“My mistakes will never disappear.” Endeavor growled, “I’m trying to make things right.”

“Whatever.” Dabi scoffed, “You haven’t learned a damn thing have you? The world learns about everything you did and what happened after that?” He rhetorically asked with a twist of the face, “You’re still Mr.#1. All the “right people” still love you.”

Endeavor looked down, “The worlds not a fair, kind place. I know that I got let off easy. The most I got was a slap on the wrist and forced to take anger management and family counseling.” He himself was disgusted by how things turned out. Things should have been worse for him. They had to be. He question if that was the root of why he left the house for Fuyumi to run, and to invite Natsuo to live there again. Hopefully, when the doctors say it’s okay, Rei can come home too.

Endeavor knew in his heart that their family would be better off without him. Yes, he’ll still provide and help whenever he could. It was the least he could do. Of course, leaving hurt him more than any pain he’s ever felt. That was his way of punishing himself. If society wouldn’t black list him, he’d have to somehow make things right himself. Removing himself from the equation so that his family could heal and grow together to be happy was what, in his mind, needed to be done. Self torture, forcing himself to except the reality of it all. Endeavor’s heart felt heavy knowing that was the starting point and there was more to come, but it’s what he deserved. He held onto hope that maybe someday things will be different. But that was him just being optimistic. “We don’t have to do this out here. You should come inside.”

“Embarrassed someone will hear?”

“No. But if you’re seen, you’ll be captured.” Dabi looked back and saw cars driving by, being noticed was too risky.

“Fine.” Dabi bumped past his father and proceeded into the house. Boxes were piled up in the corner, small appliances were scattered on the countertops along with some old photos. One in particular caught his attention. “I remember this.” Little Touya holding his baby brother, Shouto who had super rosy cheeks at the moment the picture was taken.

Endeavor walked around to see the photo, a sad, guilty smile appeared then quickly disappeared. “So do I. Even though you and Shouto weren’t close, for some reason when you held him,” he paused biting back a wobbly lip, “he’d stop crying. Rei and I would be up for hours trying to get him to sleep but nothing would work.”

“I remember mom coming into my room some nights and getting me to rock him to sleep.” Dabi placed the picture faced down, “I can’t believe I forgot about that.” There was so much hatred in Dabi’s heart, he focused on the pain so much that the lovely moments seemed to fade away and he slowly went mad. “I miss her.” He sucked in a quick gasp hoping those words were in his head and didn’t escape his mouth.

“So do I.” Endeavor harshly rubbed his eyes of any tears and regained his composure. “Have you talked to Shouto at all?”

He shook his head, “Nah. After he got burned at that rally I went out to find him but I didn’t have any luck.”

Endeavor raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Is that so?”

*Dabi’s flashback*

Dabi was shaking with frustration. His allies were turning their backs on him and questioning his loyalty, his brother was intentionally putting himself in danger. Everything was falling apart.

He waited close by UA to hopefully catch Shouto alone and off guard but there was no sight of him. He called hospitals, posing as Natsuo, so that the receptionist could tell him if his little brother checked in to treat a burn. Still no luck. It was already getting dark so he decided to head back to the hideout.

He passed by a bar and stopped when the door was flung open and two large animal-like men were throwing out some sweaty geezer who was cursing and slurring his words. So pathetic, he thought. Something about this guy looked familiar.

The man struggled to push himself up off the pavement and wobbled until he found a stable standing position. “You damn mutants!” He shouted then turned his attention to Dabi who stood there staring. “Whatr’ you lookin’ at?” He drawled our, spitting at Dabi’s feet and proceeded to stumble away.

Dabi looked down when he heard a sizzling. The pavement was burning. “Acid.” He cocked his head to the side and clenched his jaw. “Alright you fat fuck. Let’s see if you can handle getting burned.” Dabi followed the man who was more than likely lost considering how confused he was when he found himself behind some abandoned buildings.

“What the shit?” The drunk scratched his head, trying to remember where his damn house was. “Wherein’ da hell am I?”

“You’re lost.” Dabi’s voice echoed through the empty buildings. “How unfortunate.” He smirked.

“Back da fuck up, Skinny boy.” He wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, “I’m a black belt. I’ll kickyer ass.”

Dabi sarcastically chuckled, “Oh I’d like to see yuh try you tub of lard.”

“Take that hood off so I can seeyer face, coward!” Dabi shrugged, removing the hood. By the way the drunk stumbled backwards, he could tell he didn’t expect this turn of events. “Yer- yer that guy!” He pointed, “The one from the League! Endeavor’s son!”

“You’re right.” Dabi stalked his way closer to the man who had backed up into a gate. He kneeled down to the mans sitting position and grabbed him by his stained shirt, “You do know why I followed you, right?” The man shook his head, “You hurt my little brother.”

“That wasn’t me.”

“That wasn’t you?” Dabi tugged at the Captain Celebrity shirt that was tearing at the seams, “You expect me to believe that?”

“It was an accident! I-“

“I’m bored now.” Dabi cut him off and stood up, extending his arm out. “Time to burn fatso.” _Do you think killing people is the answer?_ The flames in Dabi’s hand extinguished. Not this again, he thought. _Please son, don't do it! It’s not too late to change. Touya!_ Rei’s voice rang in his head like a loud siren, piecing through his ears and brain.

“Please! Have mercy!” The drunk begged, bringing his forehead down to the ground, pleading for his pathetic life. “I’m sorry! I didn’t wanna hurt anybody!” He cried.

Dabi struggles to keep his hand up, it was like some unknown force was trying to get him to stop. He was fighting against it but in the end, he let it win. I can’t do it. “Stand up.” He ordered the drunk who complied. Dabi went over and found a discarded piece of cloth from the nearby dumpster and twisted it, then forced the man to bite down on the smelly fabric. “Don’t scream.” Dabi hissed, grabbing the man by the face and burning a mark onto the right side of his eye. The man tried to struggle out of Dabi’s grasp to no avail as he screamed into the gag that muffled his voice. Dabi ripped his hand away and pushed the man onto the ground. He huffed, still trying to hold himself back. “Now you know what he felt.”

The drunk curled into a ball, holding his blinded eye that he could have sworn was melting. “You’re a monster!” he continued to sob.

“Maybe.” Dabi answered as he walked off, “But don’t forget. This monster showed you mercy.”

“Mercy?” A deep chuckle drew closer to the scene, “You fuckin Judas.” From around the corner Yato made his presence known. He stood between the two men. “Would ya look at this shit? Here I was feeling bad for what I did, that I tracked you down to come apologize. Then I see this.”

“What do you want?” Dabi growled. This was literally the last guy he wanted to see right now.

“I want you...” he prodded Dabi’s chest then pointed back at the quivering man, “To do what’s right.”

“What’s right isn’t for you to decide, Playboy.”

Yato smirked, “Fair enough. Guess I’ll go tell everybody that you found the guy who hurt your brother, who you’re apparently trying so hard to protect, that you couldn’t even get the job done.”

“Ever heard of an eye for an eye, dumbass?”

“I have actually. But that’s bullshit cuz we don’t play to get even. We play to win.”

“There is no ‘We’.”

“Hmmm, alright. So what’s really stopping you? Change of heart?” He tauntingly pouted. “That’s weak, dude.” Dabi shoved Yato, who’s expression changed real fast. “You don’t wanna do this, Dabi. Remember what happened last time.”

“I won’t let you get close enough then. I have long range, remember?” He stood back, and held flames in both hands.

“Oh right, kill me but keep this squabbling bastard alive.”

“What do you want from me?! Just leave me the fuck alone! All of you need to mind your damn business!”

“We’re in this together if you haven’t noticed. I’m on your side but it’s you who seems to be drifting to the other team.”

Dabi clenched his fists tightly, “I don’t need the League anymore. I already got what I wanted.”

Yato scowled then flipped his frown into a cheery smile, “Then that solves it.” He stretched his arms out and folded his hands behind his head. “Until Shigaraki comes back, I’ll lead the group.”

“Please, you can’t even fully dress yourself properly.” He insulted, in reference to Yato never wearing a shirt. “And yet you wanna lead a bunch of psychos.”

“Well those psychos seem to trust me a lot more than they trust you. With a little convincing, you’ll lose Twice. And a little persuasion will get Toga under my arm too. Y’see what they need is a strong leader who will make sacrifices to reach their goal. Not one that bails out when he doesn’t like the circumstances.”

Dabi snarled at those confident words Yato was spewing that held the weight of a fucking feather. “Oh yeah? Just shows how small your fucking brain is if you think you know what’s good for them.”

“Then prove me wrong.” Yato stepped out of the way, “We have all night. Something tells me he won’t get very far.” They both looked at the drunk who was on the verge of passing out from the sight of his peeling skin and blood loss.

Dabi scoffed, “Tch, fine.” he hovered over the squealing man who once again pleaded for mercy.

“No... please...”

Dabi squeezed his eyes shut and blocked out the voices in his head screaming for him to stop. The guilt and anger fueled his flames as a gust of blue engulfed the man as he screamed. The fire dwindled down but the drunk was still alive.

“Hey Dabs, he’s still kickin’.”

Dabi turned his back, “Let em suffer.”

Dabi knew he had to come off as the cold hearted leader that he once was before all this shit started happening to him. Yet, there was still that side of him that wanted to put a stop to all of this. His mother’s voice was something he couldn’t keep ignoring. Leaving the man partially alive, as awful as it sounds, gave Dabi some comfort that he didn’t fully finish the job. Nature would take its course and do it for him. So it couldn’t possibly count. Right?

Denial sure is a hell of a drug and Dabi was taking it everyday. All he wants now is to break the habit.

*end flashback*

“If anybody could track down Shouto, I thought it would be you.” Endeavor explained.

“Sorry to disappoint.” Dabi sarcastically answered as he made his way over to an unoccupied couch where he then sat. He leaned forward and put his burner phone on the coffee table and took off his jacket, making himself comfortable. “Lookin forward to living alone?”

“Do you really care?”

“Not really, no.”

“Where are you staying?” Endeavor asked. He was always curious on where the League would hide out since the heroes destroyed their original base.

“Here and there. Can’t stay in one place for too long.”

“I see.” Endeavor moved things around to keep himself occupied and not focus on the awkwardness of this conversation.

“Endeavor!” A person shouted as they annoyingly banged on the door. “It’s Detective Mayaku. I have important news!”

“Shit.” Endeavor cursed, “Him again. Go hide upstairs I’ll let you know when he leaves.” Dabi went to go hide but made sure to be close enough to hear what was so important that this guy needed to talk in person instead of calling like a normal person. Endeavor opened the door and a young man let himself inside. “Sure, you can come in.”

“Sorry for intruding.” Mayaku apologetically bowed his head. “I have news about Sake Koshin.”

“Who?”

“The man that was found burned to a crisp a few blocks down from the bar.”

“Ok right. How did you identify him? I thought you said you found mostly ashes and some bones.”

“Some of his teeth survived the fire so we went off of dental records. It took a little while for us to get the results back.”

“Hm, so what was so important that you couldn’t leave me a voicemail?”

“Well I’ve been digging. You see, the burned cloth we found wasn’t his shirt like we expected. I visited the scene again and I discovered fabric and seams entangled in the rods of the gate that Sake was probably leaning up against.” Endeavor tapped his foot impatiently, making Mayaku nervous and start to stammer. “What I’m trying to say is, Sake was the man who shot acid at your son.”

Endeavor stiffened his jaw, “How can you be so sure?”

“Well I talked to some of the men at the bar and they said that Sake is a regular who always causes trouble. They saw him on TV when he hurt your son and he picked a fight with the bartender when he said he should feel ashamed for hurting a child.” He explained. “He was murdered the same night he hurt your son.”

Endeavor uncrossed his arms and towered over the detective. “Are you accusing Shouto of doing this?”

Mayaku shrunk where he stood, “N-no! Not at all! But I do think it was your other son.” He gulped, “Touya.”

“Touya’s nowhere to be seen. And I doubt he’d kill someone to avenge the brother who he abandoned.” Endeavor didn’t mean those words. With the way Dabi had been acting, it seemed like a possibility.

“I guess that’s true. The bartender did say that when they kicked out Sake, there was a man in a black hoodie standing at the door who never entered the bar.”

Endeavor looked passed Mayaku and over at the couch where Dabi had left his hoodie. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. “That could have been anybody. You know Shouto’s organization has a lot traction right now. Maybe one of the followers did this.” He guided Mayaku towards the door, hoping that he wouldn’t turn towards the couch.

“How many fire users do you know? Ordinary citizens don’t exactly have the fire power to char bones to dust unless they’ve had training. Which is hard for non pro’s and students to get, or unless they were taking illegal quirk enhancing drugs.

_Ring! Ring!_

Endeavor cringed at the sound, knowing Dabi’s burner phone was right in front of the couch with the other evidence. “Are you gonna answer that?”

“Uh, no I’m talking to you that would be rude.”

“Listen, Endeavor. All I’m saying is that Touya being behind this isn’t too far fetched. Whoever did this was looking for revenge.”

_Ring! Ring!_

This time it was the detectives phone that needed to be answered, “Hello?” ... “Are you sure?” ... “Alright, I can’t believe I missed that.” ... “Thank you so much. Bye.”

“Who was that?”

“My assistant.” He slowly placed his cell into his front pocket, “Endeavor... you should sit down for this.” Mayaku turned around to have a seat and saw Dabi’s black hoodie on the couch. “Did you shrink your laundry?”

“Yeah. My daughter usually took care of laundry so now I’m figuring it out.” He lied. Mayaku picked up the hoodie and pinched his nose at the horrid smoke smell. Pesky detectives. “So what is it? I have a lot of things to take care of.”

“Well... I was just informed that there’s a possibility there were two people at the crime scene.” Endeavor scrapped his hands over his face, “The burns in the pavement. One set looked more focused, and the other was more erratic. And by the shades of the markings, the range of temperatures had to be completely different.”

_Ring! Ring! Ring! Ri- ‘Hey Dabi, it’s meeeee! Toga! Listen, Jin and I have been worried about you. What happened a few days ago, we don’t blame you for how you feel about joining forces with your brother. But keep an open mind, m’kay? This’ll be good for us. I’ll check in again later. Byeeeee!’_

Endeavor froze at the sound of the audible voicemail. Busted.

“Endeavor....”

The #1 quickly stood up, “No, it’s not what you think!”

“Are you covering for your sons!?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Shouto and Touya! They killed-!”

“They didn’t!”

“You’re hiding Touya here!” Mayaku grabbed at the cuffs that were attached to his weapon belt. “I have to arrest him.”

“You can’t.” Endeavor forbid.

Mayaku slumped his shoulders, “I’ll say he broke in. We can make things look like a struggle went down and I walked in. None of this will fall back on you. But I need you to understand why I need to arrest him. Touya is a criminal.”

Endeavor grabbed the man by the arm before he could walk up the stairs, “I told the world already... This is my fault. I won’t let my sons pay for my mistakes anymore.”

“Let go of me or I’ll have no choice but to arrest you too. Even though you’ll more than likely get off easy again, but it’ll tarnish your name even more when it comes to the Hero Billboard polls.”

“Sounds like a threat.” Endeavor growled.

“If you don’t let go, I’ll be forced to call for backup.”

Endeavor lowered his head, “I’m sorry.” He let go. Right before Mayaku could take a step he was hit with flames that stunned him, causing his body to fall to the ground.

When Dabi heard the man hit the floor he ran down the stairs, “What the hell? That drunk bastards dead? I knew he would have died but I didn’t burn him to ash. And Shouto... he wouldn’t have done that.”

“I know.” Endeavor looked his son in the eyes. “I know.”

*Endeavor’s flashback*

“Yeah I splashed acid all over that kids, face!” A drunk in the distance bragged, “I’d say it’s an improvement. That’ll teach em to shut’is mouth bout shit he knows nothin bout!”

“Hey buddy,” the bartender leaned over the counter, “Don’t think you’re hot shit just cuz you hurt a kid who’s standing up for something.”

The drunk rubbed his prickly chin, “Hm, not surprised a reptile like yourself would agree with dumbass kids.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Ick! Yer scaly skin makes me wanna vomit.” He spit in the shot glass and slid it towards the bartender, “Anybody else back there who can serve me? I don’t want yer mutant claws touchin my drink.”

“Hey!” Another man shouted, “Cut the shit or I’ll beat your ass, borracho.”

“Like I’m scared of a man crossed with ayyyy uhhh what the fuck are you? Part dog? Disgusting.”

The bartender and the other man trying to enjoy his drink had both had enough of this blabbering idiot. They grabbed him by the arms and dragged him towrds the doors as he screamed out calling them words like “mut” and “mutant”. “Animal fucker” was also a more common slur that people used against those with non-human based quirks. Anybody who thought those words knew better to be silent, but that didn’t change the fact that hate was still out there.

“And stay out!” They shouted, slamming the door shut. “Every night with that guy, it’s always something.”

“This is like the 12th time I’ve kicked him outta here.”

Endeavor sat quietly in the corner of the bar. A few shots of whiskey in his system, and the urge to order more. The drinks kept coming and he downed them so fast he forgot how many he’d had.

Being out wasn’t much of a worry for Endeavor. Nobody noticed him without his hero costume or flaming beard. He just looked like a big, burly guy with reading glasses and a sweater.

Part of him wanted to go into hero modeto take that guy out himself. But with the alcohol brewing inside of him, he knew that wasn’t a good idea. Those words though. They kept playing in Endeavor’s head. That bastard was proud of what he did to Shouto. So much so that he was bragging about it to a bar full of people. The rage was boiling over. 

“Hey sweetie.” A busty waitress rested her dainty hand on his broad shoulder. “Better slow down there. Don’t want you passing out on us, Pops.”

Endeavor lazily looked up at her, she was young. Maybe a little older than Fuyumi but still very young. Her face was okay but her tight body looked amazing. He shook those dirty thoughts out of his head. It was the liquor talking. He never had thoughts like that. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just have one more beer and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Coming right up.” She winked.

Endeavor smirked and shook his head. There’s a reason why he didn’t drink. It made him want to act out in more ways than one. That’s why the most he’d ever drink is a small glass of wine at dinner. He’ll never forget after graduation, how All Might and Mic dragged him and Aizawa out for drinks. Nobody would have guessed that Endeavor would have been such a lightweight while Aizawa was a beast at drinking. The night was fuzzy, but all they remembered was meeting some girls that night and the rest was history.

He was pulled from his thoughts when a bottle slid in front of him. “You’re kinda hot for an older guy.”

“Thanks. But I’m married.”

The waitress pouted, “Aw, well that’s never stopped anybody before.”

Endeavor finished the last of his drink, “I should get going.” He pulled out his wallet and left the girl a generous tip. Stumbling out the door, he let his feet guide him to wherever they chose to wind up. He had no idea where he had drifted off too but it was quiet.

Soon he came to a stop after hearing faint breathing and rattling coming from behind some old buildings. Curious, he wobbled down the path to check it out.

The rattling got louder so it was easy to trace where the sound was coming from. “Who’s there?” Endeavor took off his glasses that started to give him a headache and put them in his pocket. “This is why I hate drinking.”

“H....he..help... me....” a weak voice croaked.

It was a man who looked severely burned. Some of his clothes were still attached to his body but his muscle was falling from the bone the more he moved, trying to pull himself up with the assistance of the gate he was leaned up against.

“Oh god...”Endeavor hurried over, “Sir? Who did this to you?” He pulled out his cell phone prepared to call a medic.

“He.... it was a... sc-scarecrow... a p...patched up... scarecrow...” the delirious man weakly answered.

“Patched up?” If there was one thing people always said to describe Dabi, it would be patched up.

_‘911 what is your emergency?’_

Endeavor looked at the mans shriveled body and recognized the shirt. It’s the man from the rally and the bar. Endeavor hung up his phone. “You hurt my son.”

“N-no...” Endeavor’s flaming beard ignited and his eyes were bloodshot. “E-en.. Endeavor?” He choked on the air slipping through his fried lungs. “Help... mmmme.”

“You had the nerve to laugh and brag about hurting my son.” He growled, his temple pulsing in the side of his head from sheer anger. “Then Touya found you. If I call the ambulance now there’s a slim chance you might survive, or at least live long enough to give up Touya’s name.” Endeavor stood over the man, “I won’t let that happen.” He focused his flames onto the body, making sure to burn it to where it was nothing but ash and bone. “My sons won’t suffer because of me anymore... They can’t.”

*end flashback*

“It was you.” Dabi looked at his father wide eyed. “You killed him.”

“I had to! Who knew how long he would have lived? If I didn’t find him someone else would have.”

“Why did you do that?”

“He hurt Shouto! And you tried to avenge your brother and I didn’t want the police to have another reason for wanting to arrest you!”

“You protected me...” Dabi moved the unconscious detective with his foot, “Now what are we gonna do about this guy?”

Endeavor looked up confused, “We?”

“Look, I still hate you. But this guy thinks me and Shouto did it. I’m not gonna let this get pinned on him too. And if you’re in jail, who’s gonna be the one to bail him out when he gets into trouble?”

Endeavor agreed to accept his sons help. “Wait, that voicemail. Did Shouto’s group really join you?”

“Nah, they want to join forces with him but I told them to leave him out of it.” Dabi paused, “I’m not gonna let him turn out like me.” He then grabbed his phone and made a phone call.

* * *

“Well, this is just messy.” Giren adjusted his glasses and took a long drag of his cigarette. “I charge a cleaning, transporting, and quirk using fee.” He handed Endeavor the bill.

“How much!?” He shouted.

Dabi looked over his shoulder, “Wow that’s a lot of zeroes.” Endeavor scowled at him, making Dabi chuckle, “Hey, not my fault you let a detective in the house.”

“I’ll go get my checkbook.”

“Uh, no. In cash.” Giren reminded.

“Damn criminal. Fine, I have some in the safe.” Endeavor walked up the stairs to get the money.

“I’ve gotta say, I’m shocked. Never thought I’d see the day where you’d help your father.”

“Shut it. This ain’t about him, alright.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Giren kneeled down and held the detectives head in between his hands.

Giren. His quirk: Muddiness. He has the ability to cause minor amnesia to his target by making contact with their head, causing their memories of the previous five minutes and the next five minutes to become vague.

“Since he’s been unconscious, he won’t remember the events leading up to your father knocking him out, and when he wakes up he’ll be horribly confused and more than likely think he had a bad dream.” The broker explained with his cigarette hanging from his lips.

“Thanks for this.” He knelt down beside him, “Also I don’t need the League knowing about what happened.”

Giren turned with a smug look on his face, “You know what it takes to keep my mouth shut, Dabi.”

He rolled his eyes and dug in his pockets, “Uh, all I have is a pack of menthols.”

Giren plucked the box out of the mans hand, “Thanks. I was running out.” Endeavor came back down with the money wrapped up neatly in a rubber band and handed it to the broker. “My men will be here shortly to transport him back home and to clean up this fiery mess.” He motioned with his hands, in reference to the burn marks on the wall and floor.

“What about the crime scene?” Dabi asked, “Who knows what more evidence they can pull from there?”

“I’m afraid I’m not your man for that job.” Giren slouched, “I’m sure you boys will figure something out.” He laughed to himself, “Ah, I’m sorry. It’s just amusing to see a member of the infamous League of Villains joining forces with the new #1 Hero. It’s unreal.”

“And don’t you say shit about it.”

“I know I know. My lips are sealed.”

Shortly after Giren left, his men took the body and cleaned up to get rid of any evidence that the detective was ever in the house. “Thanks for that.” Endeavor looked over at Dabi who seemed relieved that this was taken care off.

“Don’t mention it, dad.” They both froze,

_Did he just?_

_Did I just?_

“Enji. I said Enji.” Dabi corrected himself.

“Right. That’s what I heard too.”

Dabi didn’t know what it was, but saying “dad” didn’t sting his tongue as much as he thought it would. Who knew that covering for each other over a murder and assaulting a detective couldbring people together.

“Hey, if you need anything...” Endeavor began but trailed off, “Nevermind.”

“Just spit it out, Enji.”

“I’m here if you need anything. Or if you feel like you have nowhere to go, my doors always open.” Before things got too mushy, he tried making things less deep. “Uh, the old house too. You can also stay there if you like. I’m sure your sister will be thrilled.”

Dabi was trying to understand what the hell was happening. His dad was really trying to put the broken pieces back together. So much so that he himself broke the law. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Dabi flung his jacket back on and put up the hood. “I should get going.”

“Yeah.” Endeavor watched his son leave and shut the door behind him. Then he softly said, “Goodnight Touya.”

Dabi turned around, looking back at the house. “Night dad.”


	14. Save Me

A man was found burnt to ash in a filthy alleyway, and there were two probable suspects. The evidence was all there along with a crystal clear motive. The sons of Endeavor were under the magnifying glass of injustice for nothing more than a quick moment by a pesky, rookie detective. Then suddenly the case was dropped a few days later. For some reason it was decided that the man known as Sake Koshin, the towns loud-mouthed drunk, died due to being exposed to a flammable substance, more than likely fresh gasoline on the cement, and was burned to a crisp after dropping a lit cigarette on the ground. With the amount of alcohol in his system, stated by the bartenders who were serving him that night, there was no way he would have been stable enough on his feet to run out of harms way. He was on the edge of blacking out when he was escorted from the bar.

This was the story that was fed to the public. All the stuff about Touya and Shouto, Endeavor’s assistance in a murder/cover up crime went unspoken. When you have as much pull as the #1 hero, it can be fairly easy to make things go away. Paying off witnesses and threatening those involved in the case with forgotten accusations that were never brought to the light or saying you’ll expose dark secrets of affairs and foul play will definitely cause the guilty to keep quiet.

Endeavor wasn’t one for blackmail, but to protect his sons, nothing was off limits. Lies, truths, murder; it didn’t matter an ounce. Sometimes, there’s exceptions for injustice if it means protecting the real victims in the end. Right?

Endeavor sighed as he splashed cool water on his face in order to wake himself up. The bluish bags under his eyes were becoming more visible as the restless nights continued. Between fighting crime, managing his agency, and trying to fix his broken family, there was hardly any time for sleep. So much needed to be done. It was too much for one man to take on alone.

“Hey.” Endeavor jerked around in a fright, due to being caught by surprise in his vulnerable, tired state. “Relax.” Dabi put his hands up, “It’s just me.” He leaned against the doorframe and pointed behind him with his thumb, “Your security system sucks. But I guess living in a gated house, it would be hard for intruders to sneak in, so no need to lock your doors.”

The tired hero groaned, “I forgot to lock them again.”

“No shit. When was the last time you slept, old man?”

“I’ve been busy.” He simply answered, while tying his blue robe with flames along the trim around his waist. “What are you doing back? You know it’s dangerous. We can’t risk someone seeing you here again.”

“I heard that the safety commission is gonna do a live conference at UA tomorrow.” The highly anticipated event was going to cover the topics of ‘UA’s conflicted students and staff’, and the trust of the mighty heroes who were on the receiving end of societies judgment. “Think Shouto and his allies will crash it?”

“If they were smart, they’d think twice about that. The top heroes are going to be there in case anything gets out of hand.”

Dabi crossed his arms and nodded, “Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing any villain attacks from us.”

“That so? Your League of Villains comrades are still interested in breaking the trust between heroes and society, are they not?” Endeavor rhetorically asked. “I’m sure you still have that goal in sight too.”

“We’re laying low for now. With the boss out of the picture for his own reasons, we’ve decided to take the backseat and let things fall into place. Why get our hands dirty when the pros and police are making all the wrong plays? I mean, wrong for you guys. Right for us.”

“Right.” Endeavor repeated, “I’m sorry. After everything, and all these infringements and lies I partook in, I realize now what you’re fighting against. I don’t agree with the way you all have handled things, but I can admit that we as a society have to change with the times.” Endeavor felt his sons eyes on him and looked up, netting his stare. He cleared his throat and shook his head as he began to stray away from the main subject. “Quirks aren’t as simple as we’ve been told that they were and there’s still so much research that has to be done with the biology and how it impacts the individual. How the mixing of quirks can affect the thought process and the actions of people. I feel so stupid for not recognizing it before.”

Dabi was somewhat stunned to be hearing that his father was seeing things his way. After doing the dirty deeds himself, and how easy it was to sweep something as bad as murder under the rug, it showed how many crooked people were apart of the so called “trustworthy elites”. The system is supposed to serve and protect the people, not cover up the crimes of the ones who are working for it.

Before Dabi could respond, his phone began to ring in his pocket. “Yeah?” He answered. “Shit...”

“What is it?”

“We have a problem.”

* * *

-Earlier-

“Tsuka Yasei.” A student pushed Dire’s daughter into the lockers, “You’re quirkless. Your father is a Yakuza thug, and yet you think you have the right to speak out against the heroes!”

Tsuka tried her best not to get angry. She continued to take the quirk suppression pills, but it wasn’t wise to let these emotions get the better of her. “It was a group discussion, Kagura. Everyone was voicing their opinions.”

“You know my father was killed during the raid of the Shie Hassaikai Compound a few months ago. My mom would have been crushed by that monster of a villain too, but a hero saved her life. So excuse me for being offended by how you were speaking out against them!”

“Nobody is saying that heroes are bad, Kagura. We’re saying that things need to change and we have to stop looking up to them like they’re gods. People have become weak by putting their faith in them, when most of them only do all this hero work for a damn pay check.” Tsuka tried walking passed her classmate who stepped in her way once more. “Get out of my way.” She warned when Kagura pushed her again. “Knock it off.” Her teeth gritted against each other as her path was blocked once more.

“Or what?” Kagura transformed her hands into sharp serpent claws. “You gonna hit me? Go ahead and try. Oh wait, you can’t cuz you’re a defenseless, quirkless loser who has nothing to offer in this world.”

“See it’s things like that! People like you are the reason why things need to change. You aren’t better than me just because you have a quirk and I don’t.”

“I have a better chance at succeeding than you, so yeah I’d say I am better.”

“Sure, and here you are proving my point once again.” Tsuka shook her head at the girls ignorance, “I’ve dealt with enough of your stupidity. Get out of my way.” She bumped passed her but then felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Kagura had stuck a claw in her shoulder and flung her into the wall. Students scattered to the scene and circled around the girls chanting for a fight. Tsuka looked up through her blonde hair as she felt blood dripping down her arm. She wasn’t angry anymore, but she was afraid of everyone’s safety rather than her own.

“Get up!” Kagura snarled, spreading her claws. “We’re not finished.

“I’m not gonna fight you!”

“She’s scared!”

“Pathetic.”

“What do you expect out of someone without a quirk?”

“What would happen if she took this?” Someone pulled out a syringe out of their bag. Before Tsuka could react, the boy stuck the needle in her arm and pushed the cloudy grey fluid into her bloodstream.

“You idiot!” Tsuka screamed, making the building quake. “Trigger...” her voice shook as she realized it was the quirk enhancement drug she had been dosed with. “Leave!” She warned loudly as she held her sides, “Get out before I kill all of you!”

“Was that a threat?” Kagura went for a slap but was caught mid swing. “What the?!”

Tsuka’s normally blue eyes darkened to black orbs and her hand gripped tighter around the girls wrist, “Let’s see here.” Her now ghostly voice echoed through the halls, “Would you be considered quirkless without your hands?” She squeezed more until Kagura’s wrist began to crack. She screamed and used her other claw to scratch her way out of Tsuka’s grasp but it was like scratching stone. With a quick snap, Kagura’s severed hand fell to the floor and twitched before life left it all together, much like the blood pouring from her arm as she fainted. Tsuka turned to the frightened crowd, licking the blood from her face, “Who’s next?”

* * *

-LoV Hideout-

“6 blue.” Okada called out as a yawn left his lips. “Your turn Girl Scout.”

“Draw 4 I change the color to red.”

Compress drew 4 uno cards and piled them in his deck. “Ah ha ha! You think you have me there, but not quite!” He put down 3 reverse cards which neither person could go, sending it back to himself then two more skip a turn cards, leaving him only with one card. “Uno.” He smiled from behind his mask.

Okada and Toga both looked down at the green skip a turn card and realized that they didn’t have any greens in their deck so they had to draw more cards until they found one. For some reason they got all the way down to the bottom of the deck where the last two green cards were. “Finally!” They both shouted, slamming their cards on the table.

Compress chuckled as he threw down his wild card, “I win.”

“There’s no way!” Toga threw her cards landing in the scattered pile they had created.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Toga.” Okada leaned in and raised his thin, red eyebrow. “But what I want to know is, how did you cheat?”

Compress gasped dramatically, “What!? I would never!” He rapidly shook his head, causing green uno cards to fall out of his hat. A nervous laugh slipped out much like the stolen cards, “Ta-da!”

“I should stab you for that!”

“Me!? You were the one stabbing your cards under the table!” Compress outed her.

“You were what!?” Okada looked under the table and saw cards stabbed to the bottom of it. “Do you people have to be bad all the time, jeez!”

“Could you all keep it down over there?” Dire rubbed his temples, “I expect all the racket from those two children, but you Mr.Compress?”

“My apologies.” The magician bowed his head and walked over to put on the tv. “Any requests?”

“No cartoons, no comedy, nothing with killing off animals, no Japan’s got talent,and most definitely no reality shows.”

Compress frowned, “Fine. The news it is.”

_We’re reporting a lockdown at Saigai High School. There is a rogue student, holding her peers as well as staff captive._

Dire sat up quickly, “That’s Tsuka’s school.” He snatched the remote from Compress and turned up the volume. Toga and Okada joined them on the couch to see what was going on.

_There are still no heroes on the scene but police are trying to break their way into the building via doors and windows._

The cameras panned over to groups of officers with riot gear attempting to barge in. Above the school was an almost black swirl cloud with lighting flashing out of it and striking the ground below making on lookers scatter to safety.

“What the hell kind of quirk does that?” Okada asked, leaning in to listen in more closely to the reporter.

“It’s Tsuka...” Dire stood up in a panic, “We need to go help her!”

“Dire, heroes are on their way. She’s a teen girl, they’ll find a way to-“

“No!” He screamed, making the trio flinch away. “Tsuka... she’s...” the father shook nervously, “I don’t know how this happened but the girl is dangerous. When her quirk becomes too much for her to control she becomes a walking calamity. They’ll see her as nothing more than that and they’ll kill her!”

“Alright alright!” Toga stood up and began to dial her phone, “I’ll call Spinner and have him bring the quickest car he boosted so that we can make it to the school.”

“No no no.” He shook his head, “The streets are probably blocked off or there’s traffic.”

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re villains. Driving laws don’t apply to us so we’ll run over anybody and anything to get you to your daughter.” Okada assured with confidence.

Dire took his words under consideration and sprinted to the room where Brute was sleeping, “My body falls lifeless when I Warg an animal or a person. So I need you to take my body with you all and bring it to the school. Brute runs fast, so I’ll be there to talk Tsuka down. But what I need is for you to retrieve the quirk erasing bullet.”

Toga and Compress side eyed each other. “Those are with the doctor and Handy Man. But they’re up in the mountains. We can’t risk anybody following us up there either.” Toga informed, tapping her lip to think of a full proof plan.

“Twice! He has one bullet because he’s been trying to replicate it with his quirk!” Compress remembered, “We’ll get it from him and meet up with you. Now go save your daughter.”

Dire nodded to his comrades and then took over Brute’s mind and body. The wolf sped out the warehouse and headed towards the school.

“We should tell the others.” Toga announced, sending them a message. “I’ll call Dabi too.”

* * *

-U.A. Dorms- 

Todoroki and Sam were watching everything going down on the news and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Police everywhere and several D list heroes on the scene who had no idea what to do since nobody knew what kind of quirk they were dealing with. “What the hell are they gonna do when they find the student?”

“Depends.” Todoroki answered, “If they cooperate calmly they’ll probably arrest them. If not then-“

“Shouto, who the hell can cooperate calmly with guns pointed at them? Nobody knows what’s going on in that school. How do we know the person causing all this isn’t in some sort of trouble?” Shouto listened to his friend and understood where he was coming from. The lines between good and bad have been blurred so much but he still tried his best not to overlook every villain with a sob story. But this event had Sam looking in deeper. He had an older brother named Dean who had a poison quirk. When Dean was 8, he got incredibly sick due to not releasing the poisonous fumes that became more toxic within him. He was forbid to use his “dangerous” quirk in the house or outside due to Sam being only 3 at the time and they didn’t want to risk the little boy being exposed to such harmful chemicals. So, Dean snuck away and tried to slowly release his poison that caused people who inhaled it to cough up blood and make their eyes bleed. Unfortunately they lived in the city, so no matter where he went there were crowds of people. Dean couldn’t hold it in anymore due to his body bleeding from its pores and released every ounce of poison, accidentally killing those around him in the process. He was arrested on counts of manslaughter but with support from the community after learning about his situation, he had to serve only a few months in a juvenile facility. After getting out he felt so ashamed about the lives he took and let his quirk eat him up alive and he died a slow, painful, bloody death. He had just turned 9. “Sometimes when people hold in their quirks for too long, they could just explode and it takes over. Look at this!” He pointed to tv screen, “That quirk, whatever it is, that student is probably as scared of it as everyone else is.”

Shouto noticed the tears in his friends eyes, and gave the situation a second thought. “Lets say you’re right. What should we do about it?”

“I- I want to help if they’re in danger. And if it is someone who is being evil just for the sake of it then I’ll leave it to the pros.”

“Alright then. Take Tokoyami with you. He’s been training with Hawks and told me that he learned to use Dark Shadow to help him fly. Take your mobile equipment and find a way to hack the schools cameras. Avoid going inside before knowing any details. The electric boxes are usually outside in the back of schools. I would look there first.”

“Can I take Hagakure too? I’ll need her help to sneak on campus.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Todoroki. There’s a reason why we all look up to you.” Sam grabbed his laptop and went to find his friends to help him in this mission.

Shouto looked over at himself in the mirror. The scar on his face from the acid reminded him everyday why he started this movement. It was to help those who were seen as evil by default. It was to fight for the ones who were called useless for not having a quirk. It was to crush the mold of what a hero is and to rebuild it into what a hero should be. One who saves people regardless of their quirk not being fit for the occasion, and one who tries to understand what caused the downfall of someone who turned to villainy and try to change how things are to save someone else who could be on the same path. The world is in for major change and it doesn’t matter if society is ready for it or not. “Because it’s coming.” Shouto touched his scar as a smirk grew sinisterly across his face.

* * *

-Saigai High School-

Tsuka’s quirk allowed her to control the movements of the school. Due to her command, every door from the front half of the school was clamped shut. Her quirk was slowly possessing the rest of the building, not allowing police and heroes to enter.

“Hagakure, have you connected the cables?” Sam asked through his ear piece. He didn’t want to risk using his phone for the cell towers to pick up their location.

“I got it.” She answered, “Can you see anything?”

Sam typed quickly on his laptop and saw through every camera on campus. “I’m in! Now hurry back before someone sees you.”

“You do realize she’s invisible.” Tokoyami reminded. “Can you find the girl?”

Sam flipped through each screen and what he saw horrified him and Tokoyami. A trail of dead students with their bodies dismembered. It looked like something out of a slasher film. Both boys gulped as their stomachs began to churn at the sheer horror that was going on in that school. “Do you still think it’s a scared student?” Tokoyami asked with a tremble in his voice.

“I don’t know...” Sam felt his palms begin to sweat, “maybe this was a mistake...” The teen started to doubt his gut feeling but in his head all he could see was his brothers lifeless body in the middle of their room. Something told him to follow his instincts and proceed with the plan. “I’m going in.”

“What?!”

“Maybe I can’t stop her. With a quirk like mine I can’t become a hero like the rest of you. But... That doesn’t mean I can’t try to save people!”

“Sam, she could kill you.”

“What’s going on?” Hagakure made it back, “What do we do now?”

“Sam wants to go in there.” Tokoyami filled her in, “It’s too dangerous.”

“Listen to me, just being near that school gave me such an uneasy feeling. It was something so evil.” Hagakure explained, trying to talk her friend out of entering the school.

“Evil...” he huffed, “That words thrown around so loosely nowadays.” Same grabbed his laptop case and slung it around his shoulder. “I’m going. And don’t try to stop me.”

“Sam!” They both called out but were ignored watching him sneak into the school.

* * *

Dire weaved through the busy streets and leaped over cars and people using Brute’s body. He was only a block away from his step daughters school but he could already feel her power radiating from it. “Tsuka... Hang in there...”

His paws scraped against the cement as he came to a halt. The school was surrounded by police, heroes, and news reporters. “Dammit.” He cursed to himself. “How the hell am I supposed to make it in there without being noticed...”

“Look! Up there!” A woman screamed in horror. Dire looked up to where the woman pointed. It was five students standing on the edge of the school. They all had a grim expression and moved like robots.

“You all look down on me and see someone useless” the first student spoke. Their ghostly voice sounded as if they were possessed, being forced to speak by their master.

The second student held their arms open but it was anything but inviting. “Now you look up to me and see a fearsome god.”

A boy was next to speak against his will. “But I am no god. I’m a normal person who had to hide in fear my whole life worrying how I can be accepted.”

“Quirkless or not I was doomed.” Tears began to fall from the next young girls face. “I would be hated for my lack of powers or I would be feared due to my overwhelming strength.”

A bystander yelled at the heroes and police who stood motionless, “Hurry up and capture that villain before those children get killed!”

The last student, who was the youngest out of the bunch being only a first year, looked up with a frightening smirk. “Villain?” She growled, “I am no villain. I’m a scared girl who was forced into this position. I was backed into a corner, forced to use my power, but none of that matters to you. Nobody sees me as someone worth saving... I know how my story ends. I’ll be viewed as nothing more than some cold blooded devil.” She shrugged uncaringly, “May as well go out with a bang.”

Each student stepped off the building one right after the other. Heroes and police snapped themselves out of their trance and ran towards the plummeting children only able to save two. “How heroic.” One of the survivors spoke as they were being cradled in the heroes arms, “You saved her.” The child’s eyes turned black, “But she’s not the one who needs it the most.”

The second child stood up and walked over to the hero and girl, “You saved him too, but look at them. Look at them real closely. Even the dead ones.” The possessed children turned their backs on the heroes and police. What everyone saw made them almost faint. Giant holes had been bludgeoned into their skulls.

“They were already dead...”

“Yes...” the boy softly spoke. “They were. Now how will you stop anyone else from dying?” He asked but by the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces, they didn’t have an answer, “Just remember-”

The girl turned her head all the way around until her neck broke. “You’ve saved no one!” both she and the boy fell lifeless as their possessed bodies became nothing more than a grey corpse.

The doors to the school flung open and Dire took that as an opportunity to run in while everybody was distracted by the children’s mangled bodies that were displayed at the front of the school.

“Tsuka!” He screamed, “Tsuka it’s me! Where are you!” Dire sniffed the halls for his daughters scent but all he could track was more blood and bodies.

* * *

“Is that a wolf?” Sam exclaimed as he searched threw the cameras on his laptop. “Whatever, I need to find this girl.” He flipped through more cameras and accidentally lost his footing, tripping over something laying in the middle of the hallway. He rubbed his head and looked down at his feet. A shocked yell echoed down the empty halls that looked untouched. Right in front of him was a dead boys body. His insides were hanging out of his body and the jaw had been ripped from his skull. “Oh god...” Sam gasped, holding his hand over his mouth in hopes to subdue the pressure of vomit making its way up his throat.

“Who are you?” Sam looked up at the girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere. She had messy, bloody blonde hair and large, beautiful blue eyes. She looked like the war angels in the fantasy books he loved to read. He couldn’t help but to stare at her in awe. “Perhaps I should repeat myself?” Tsuka grabbed the boy by his throat and raised his body off the floor, “Who are you?”

He gripped her wrists, trying to escape her python like hold. “My names Sam Winchester.” He choked out, “I’m a student from U.A. I’m here to help...” his eyes began to roll in the back of his head until Tsuka let him go and fall back to the floor.

“Help?” She circled around him, her bloody footsteps leaving a trail around the boy. “What makes you think that’s possible? What gives you the idea that I’m in need of saving now when I can protect myself?”

“I can tell.” Sam answered as he stood up to the girl in front of him, only being about an inch or two taller than her with his 6ft frame. “My quirk is called read. I can pretty much hold my hand over a book and read it in a second or understand any language.” Tsuka tilted her head in confusion, “It also allows me to read and understand someone’s body language and know how they’re feeling.” He reached down for the girls trembling, blood stained hands and took them in his. “Tsuka...” the name showed up in his brain like words written on a chalk board. “You’re afraid. You want to be saved...” he closed his eyes trying to read further, “You just want to be home with your father and the rest of your family.”

Tsuka backed away slowly with tears running down her cheeks, “Help me.” She cried, “I don’t want this. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop it.” The building began to rumble as soon as Tsuka started to break down, “Trigger... I couldn’t control it! I can’t control it!” With the more her emotions grew the more erratic her quirk became.

“Tsuka, it’s not your fault!” Sam assured, “Please look at me. This isn’t on you. People failed you. Now let us make it right.”

* * *

“Finally we’re here!” Toga loaded the gun with the quirk erasing bullet they got from Twice.

The League screamed when Dire’s body jerked back to life, “Do you have it?” He asked in a panic, then swiped it from Toga’s hands. “Thank you.” He said about to hop out of the van.

“Wait!” Compress pulled him back, “There’s no way you’re going to be able to get into that school with a loaded gun. You’re not a police officer.”

“My daughter is in danger! I need to help her!”

“You won’t be much help with a bullet in your head.” Spinner reminded. “We need a distraction.”

“Don’t worry. I got this.” Okada stepped out of the van and cracked his knuckles, “It’s been a while. Old Man, I suggest you start holding your breath.” The league covered their mouths. Okada focused his energy and released a red fume from his body as he walked into the crowd of people, Dire walking a few feet behind him.

“What is that fog?” The people coughed.

Okada smirked, “And 3...2...1.” The people began to twitch and move as if they were malfunctioning. Foam started to gather in their mouths as they began to attack each other. Okada stopped the fumes as his body began to fall limp, “Alright Old Man,” he wobbled, “My quirk may be strong but I never had the opportunity to train it to its fullest. With how thin I had to spread my quirk, this’ll only last about 5 minutes. So be quick.”

“I owe you one.”

Okada nodded before falling down to his knees and looking on at the mosh pit of chaos he created. “Ha, they don’t call me Mayhem for nothing.”

“Nobody calls you that.” Toga held a pink handkerchief up to her nose and mouth, “It’s so lame.” She insulted as she tried helping the boy back to the van.

* * *

Dire remembered the halls he searched when he warged Brute. All that was left was the south wing. When he got close he felt a rumbling under his feet. “Hold on Tsuka!” He called out hoping his voice would help his daughter calm down.

“I killed so many people, Sam. So many and I can’t bring them back!” Tsuka cried uncontrollably, “How could I do such a thing? I’m evil!”

“Don’t say that! You were drugged and your quirk went heywire. I know you didn’t want to hurt any of those kids.”

“Either way I let my power consume me. I gave up and didn’t try to fight against it.” Tsuka looked down at all the blood that was covering her body, “I just want it to stop now.”

Sam knew there was little time left before the school would eventually be raided. The buzzing in his ear was Tokoyami and Hagakure calling him from his ear piece, more than likely worried for his safety. But his safety didn’t matter. What mattered was this scared girl in front of him who needed to be rescued. “I’m going to get you out of here. There was nobody guarding the building from where I came in. We can escape through-“ Sam screamed when he felt teeth sink into his arm.

“Brute no!” Tsuka screamed at her fathers wolf. “He’s trying to help me!” The beast healed and obeyed her orders.

“Tsuka!” Dire called out running towards his daughter, checking her for any wounds. “Are you alright? We need to get you out of here right now.”

“I’m fine, dad. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She sobbed in her fathers arms. The girl pulled away and felt her stomach twist in knots when she saw a significant amount of blood rub off on her fathers white button up shirt. “Oh no... what did I do?”

“No... this isn’t you. Look,” Dire showed her the special gun with the quirk erasing bullet that they’ve both been wanting to get their hands on for so long.

Sam pulled Tsuka away and tucked her behind him, “What’s that for?” He asked worried about the girls safety.

“A quirk erasing bullet.” Dire answered, “That way Tsuka’s power will be gone forever and she could live normally.”

“That’s not your choice to make!” Sam protested.

“Sam, it’s okay. This is what I want.”

* * *

-Meanwhile-

“This is taking too long.” Compress began to notice the heroes and police slowly begin to calm down. “Okada’s quirk is starting to ware off.”

“Can’t you do it again?” Toga asked, shaking her tired comrade.

“Can’t. I need time to recharge. By the time I do, it’ll be too late.” He sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“Look!” Spinner pointed, “They’re all starting to enter the school!”

“This is bad.” Toga shook her head as she watched the raid on the school. “And we can’t go in there.”

Okada tried keeping his heavy lids from drooping down, “We have to try. He’s our friend. We have to save him.”

“Saving is a heroes job, Okada. We’re just villains.” Spinner looked down and started up the van to leave the scene.

“Sometimes... villains need saving too.”

* * *

“This isn’t good, Tokoyami. The police are already going in. We have to get Sam out of there.”

“I know, but- what if he’s... I knew this was a bad idea, Toru.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going in there if you follow me or not.”

“Oh easy for you since you’re invisible!”Tokoyami argued, “What if I get caught!? Or killed!?”

“You’re talking like the heroes that we’re fighting against. What, you’re going to leave someone in danger because you don’t have the “right quirk” to save them?” She scoffed, “Make sure you fully stand with a movement before you start walking with them, Tokoyami.”

* * *

“You’re going to shoot your daughter! There must be some other way.”

“This IS the only way! I want her to live freely and not have to worry about popping pills everyday to keep her quirk under control.” Dire exclaimed loudly at this random boy in his way.

“The world is changing, sir. We can get her the help she needs.”

Dire looked down at the loaded gun, “No.” he quietly responded, “We can’t wait that long.” He pointed the barrel at Tsuka who accepted what was coming. The bullet left the gun and Sam squeezed his eyes shut when he heard the bang. Then another one made his eyes jolt open.

“Stop right there!” A hero held out their hand focusing their quirk on the bullet.

“Daddy!” Tsuka screamed, watching her fathers body fall to the floor as a second bullet met right with his spine.

The time hero, Halt. He can pause any moving person or object, making it come to an abrupt stop. Although, his quirk can only work on one object at a time.

“Officers, arrest her!” He ordered the group of police that made their way down the hall. “Be careful, she‘s dangerous.”

Brute lunged in front of Tsuka, acting as her shield, barking at the officers. He foamed from the mouth and flashed his long teeth, causing some of the officers to stop.

Sam felt a tugging on his shirt that began to drag him away, “We have to go now.” Hagakure whispered. She was completely invisible which made Sam come to the realization that she was naked.

“No, we can’t leave her!”

“I will kill you all!” Tsuka screamed, using her mind to turn the bullet around and fire it at the hero. “You’re all just corpses in my way!” What the girl didn’t know was that trigger was wearing off and she was only a fraction as powerful as she was before. She could still use some telekinetic force depending on the weight and size of the object, but as for taking damage, she might as well be shielding herself with a pillow.

The hero went down, holding his arm in pain. “Shoot to kill!” The police commanded.

Brute charged at the shooting officers, while bullets impaled him as well. His masters last request was to protect Tsuka, and that’s what he was going to do or die trying. The wolf was losing blood quickly and more police got past him. His body slowed down and fell limp. He looked forward at his lifeless master and took one more last breath before passing away, gazing at the sight of these men trying to kill Tsuka.

* * *

Endeavor and a disguised Dabi made it to the school and saw how there were hardly any more people in the area. “We’re too late.”

“The others should be here.” Dabi looked around. “There!” He pointed to the LOV get away van. “You gotta get in there and put an end to whatever the hells going on.”

“Get the League out of here before any more innocent people get killed!”

“I can’t be seen with you! Who knows what those crazy bastards will do if they found out I was associating myself with my Old Man.”

Endeavor looked back at the building, “Then leave. Get to safety before you’re seen. More of the League could be around and we just don’t know it.” The number 1 went into the building and was taken aback by the gruesome scene. In all of his years of taking down villains and seeing the most horrific of scenes, this was by far the worst. “A child did this?”

Suddenly gun shots caught his attention and he ran towards the popping sounds.

“Compress! Get the girl!” Toga shouted as she was holding off the police officers.

Sam held Tsuka by the hand and tried pulling her away, “We gotta go now!”

“She’s coming with us.” Compress threw his marbles but they were slapped back towards him by a dark figure. “The child from the camp.” He was referring to Tokoyami who he had tried to capture along with Bakugou.

“I’m not leaving! They will pay for what they did to my father!” Tsuka shot her hands out, aiming to shoot a wave of energy towards the heroes and police force who were after her, but nothing happened. “My quirk... it’s-“

“Shoot her now!” Toga turned to find where the voice was coming from and it was a half dead hero on the ground.

The magician saw out of the corner of his eye, an officer on the ground with his hand on the trigger. “Toga!” They both flung a knife and a marble to stab or capture them before firing their shot.

Tokoyami tried to shield Tsuka with dark shadow but suddenly his body went into shock by a paralysis quirk by a hero who was still trying her best to fight back.

“Don’t shoot!” Endeavor screamed as the bullet left the barrel and met dead center in the girls chest, causing her to fall backwards in what seemed to be in slow motion into the boys arms who was so desperately trying to drag her to safety. “No...”

Time seemed to have been standing still. Nobody knew what to do or how to react next. They were just... frozen.

“We couldn’t do it...” Toga’s voice shook. She watched the young girl bleed out as Sam cradled her, sobbing for her to hang in there. It didn’t matter if Compress and herself were villains, they were trying to protect their friend and his daughter. That was their only mission. A wave of guilt washed over the both of them feeling as if their effort was all for nothing.

“I need another unit here at Saigai High School. We got over a dozen officers down and-“ The cop was cut off by flames that disintegrated his body in a matter of seconds. And when his flesh became ash the flames continued. Everyone looked over at Endeavor who had his hand held up that began to smoke from the palm.

“Endeavor...” the Taser hero looked him up and down in disbelief. “You just killed an officer.”

The number one turned, revealing his yellow eyes. “I’m not Endeavor. But I will finish the job and make sure the rest of you get what you deserve.”

“Dire?” Compress whispered to himself, “He’s still holding on.”

“Now perish.” Dire used the last bit of life he had to warg Endeavor’s body and cremate any surviving witnesses who were fighting against him and his daughter.If he had to die trying to protect his child, then these “heroes” were going to die “in the name of justice”.

“Daddy...” Tsuka weakly groaned and Sam held her head up in his hand to where she was in a sitting position, “Y-you’re alive.”

Dire kneeled down and wiped the tears from Tsuka’s angelic face, “Just for now, little one.” He looked back at his stone like body that was still laying on the floor. “When my body loses all life, my consciousness goes with it. Even if i warg someone.” He looked down at her and saw how the blood from her chest continued to drip out. “I only have a few moments left.”

“M..me too...”

“We can call for help or something right?” Hagakure cried, not wanting either of them to lose each other.

“The help is what killed us, child. People like us don’t get saved. We get blamed, arrested, and killed.” Dire walked over to Brutes body and picked him up using Endeavor’s large arms and gently layedhim down close to Tsuka. “You did good boy.” Then he lifted his own body and sat it up next to hers so he’d be in the middle. “It’s time.”

“I’m scared...” her lip quivered.

“We’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry, Tsuka.” Sam tried to hold in his tears but couldn’t. “I tried.”

“We’re sorry too.” Toga sniffled, “We said we’d help you but-“

“It’s okay. We made them pay. Now raise hell so our deaths won’t be in vain.” He closed his eyes and let his consciousness bounce back to his own body as Endeavor held his aching head not knowing what just happened. Dire slowly looked over at his daughter and held her hand. “I love you, Tsuka. My sweet angel.”

“I l-love you... too-“ The last words rolled off her tongue so quietly that only Dire and Sam could hear them. Both their bodies fell limp but they managed to still be holding onto each other.

Toga cried as Compress held her close, “We should go. C’mon.” The two retreated quickly down the halls to escape in the awaiting van outside.

Tokoyami limped towards Sam. “We need to go too.”

Sam wiped his tears with the back of his arm and slowly moved Tsuka off of his lap. “I’m sorry again.” He apologized, wishing she could forgive his apology with her own words even though he could feel that she didn’t hold any ill will against him. Tokoyami wrapped Sam and Hagakure with Dark Shadow and flew away from the crime scene before anyone else showed up.

Then there was Endeavor standing in the middle of all the chaos. Staring down at a father who died trying to protect his child. He didn’t want to believe that the same fate would await him and his sons too. A conflicted boy and a hurting man with regrettable actions deserved to live long happy lives.

People are ready with their torches and pitch forks to crucify the “demons” of society without taking a moment to look in the mirror and realize that they might just be monsters too. Maybe a different kind of monster, but wicked nonetheless. Always quick to judge others and cast them out because they’re not normal or live up to standards. The ones who are hard to understand are seen as threats rather than ones who need to be listened too.

A hero is supposed to see these things. A normal person is supposed to notice too. But they’ve all become blinded by hatred or fear to the unorthodox bunch and choose to deem them as dangerous regardless of no crimes being committed.

It was like a toxic poison that everyone was inhaling and after so long they were deceived into believing it was fresh air. Society was sick and in desperate need for a cure.

“What have we all become...”

* * *

A/N: I’m BAAAAAAAACK! Let me know what you thought of this chapter and what you think might happen next.


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